To Hell And Back
by ParadoxPhilosopher
Summary: Sasuke has died and Sakura is distraught but that will not stop Naruto from keeping his promise to her. Angst post war.
1. Prologue

Authors Intro:

Hey Everyone! This is my New Story called "To Hell And Back" and it is the first in the series of angst/romance stories that involve NaruSaku. If you don't want an emotional and somewhat grim adventure filled with suffering, self doubt and maybe a happy ending if I feel like it …then this is not the story for you. I am new at writing here and am always looking for some constructive criticism and even some suggestions for the plot. If you have a good idea then drop me a pm. Also if you are looking for a laugh then I suggest my other sorry "Eyes of Eros".

First chapter here is NOT how the whole story is written but does play a key part in the thought processes of Naruto.

. .

Journal entry no. 769

The war is over. We have won. This is a day for celebration for all that we have gained but for those of us who have lived through it, this… this is a time of mourning for all that was lost. We may be free, but at what cost? The enemy promised us a world without suffering and death and all it would cost us is our freedom in a dream we would never know existed. In my honest opinion, it sounded like a reasonable trade, but the human will is unconquerable. Even in a dream world there would still be war. There will always be those who will prey on the weak in order to gain a further step ahead of others. Though we may understand each other better now, there will never be equality. There cannot be equality. If every man, woman and child was of equal rank, then there would be no will to excel. What motivation do you have if no matter what you do, you are still the same as everyone else beside you? And then what purpose do you serve if all you do is exist? Being equal in value makes you equally worthless if you cannot surpass the barriers that society places upon you and to exceed them makes you worth more than the rest. If mankind were equal in every sense then our evolution would cease.

Advances in medicine come from the advances in proficiency at dealing damage to the human form. Building design becomes stronger from the need to ward off stronger attacks, be these of nature or by man. Advances in metallurgy and other natural sciences stem from the need to improve weapons for defence. Hell, even the radio that plays music in the shower was made to communicate orders to soldiers on the ground. Though we live with many luxuries, many of these came from the sinister need to destroy. Necessity is the mother of all invention.

There is no greater source of income like an arms race either. If you can make something easier for a price then the odds are that someone is willing to pay and if one person is buying then others must pay as well to not be overwhelmed by a small advantage that could easily be avoided by a simple sum of money. War is very profitable. You have a product that the other person needs and if they don't get it then they will die. You can charge anything you want because they have no choice but to pay or die. It is blackmail on epic proportions. Armies need weapons, food, water, shelter, transport and everything they can get their hands on in order to survive. Even a humble bandage to stop bleeding has to come from somewhere. War is profitable and as long as there is a dollar to be made, then there will always be war. Peace does not come cheap and freedom is not free.

But when does it all become too much? Is there a time to cut your losses and run? How much is freedom worth if at the end of the day, all you see is death? How far can you go before you are so tainted by the hatred and pain that you can scarcely call yourself living? War is to protect ideals on how life must be lived but what if you sacrifice so much to defeat an enemy that you become it in the end? When do the lines between yourself and the weapon you carry blur to the point where you cannot see where one ends and the other begins? They say truth is one of the first casualties of war but I would put forward that in reality it is "innocence". Truth can be buried and found again. The innocence of a child lost on the battlefield can never be restored.

I lost many things in that war. Many of them were my friends, buried in a foreign land for a war they did not want. I also saved many lives those days and my faith in the masses to stand up for what is right and never back down was firmly forged on the final battle as we stood victorious.

It was a week later that I realised that I had lost more than I had ever thought possible. Then the cracks started to show and as I looked inside of myself, I found myself hollow. I turned to my friends for comfort but by the war's end, they barely knew me and I hardly knew them. Again I was thrown into the crushing black oblivion of my own isolation. But I had a promise to keep. I had to make things right.

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Thoughts? Questions? Queries? Review and I might give you an answer.

ParadoxPhilosopher!


	2. The Event

Chapter 1. The Event.

It had been one week after the war's end and though the enemy was defeated, the land was still unstable as stragglers of the war were left behind. Enemy soldiers were still making their way out of the woodwork, still not having accepted defeat, to cause havoc with quick raids in the still hostile land. There was tension in the Alliance forces as to where the new borders would be drawn now that the Sound Village was gone and Akatsuki bases were left to be claimed. To the victor went the spoils but exactly how they were to be divided was causing worry of another war.

Naruto was sitting calmly in his tent and pondering his next ramen meal when Sakura walked in to check on his wounds. Of all those who fought, it was reasonable argument to state that Naruto was certainly one of the bravest and a driving support to the morale that lead to this victory. His never say die attitude was what drove many to excel and when the enemy was defeated, it was he who was chosen to make the decision on the Jyuubi.

The Masters of the Jyuubi had been defeated but that still left the problem on what to do with the great beast that answered only to the will of the strongest. Naruto, having been chosen to be its new master, inherited the Rinnengan and was now the new Sage of Six Paths. With this power he could control the world with an iron fist and ensure peace under one leadership, but that is not what he chose to do.

Always the one to surprise people, Naruto chose to divide the Jyuubi into its nine forms again and use the burst of power from splitting the beast with his Rinnengan to resurrect a large portion of those who had died in the war to protect him and Killer B. There were some who he could not save, even with the power of the Jyuubi and the Rinnengan. Those whose bodies were too far destroyed to ever hold a soul again, but that was really a rare case. At the end of the process, Alliance casualties had dropped from 500,000 to just fewer than 10,000. Those who were brought back still needed Medical attention but were alive and had their major wounds healed.

Naruto had suffered the worst though. His selfless act had made him a conduit to all the negative energy that had built up in the corpses on the battlefields. When Nagato resurrect Konoha, He died in the process. Naruto was very close to following in his footsteps as he stopped breathing sometimes and his heart needed a jolt from a raiton technique a few times. After the first 24 hours he started to improve and stabilize.

Sakura was furious with him that he would be so stupid to do something like that when no one even asked him to. His response was to simply smile and tell her that this was why he did not inform her of his intentions with the Jyuubi. He knew she would try to talk him out of it and ask to quietly live out the remainder of his life as a God among men. Naruto did not want this. All his life he wanted normalcy and a family. Power was fine but if that was all you had then you could be very lonely.

Sakura had just given Naruto a clean bill of health and another lecture when the call came out of an intruder in sector 58. Jumping quickly to his feet, Naruto raced out to find this intruder. Though the war was over it did not mean that there was not still strong enemies to fight. His heart stopped when he caught sight of the lone enemy walking towards him.

Many had thought he was dead and more had hoped he was. But here he stood. Defiant. Bold. Arrogant. He was the last of the Akatsuki and he seemed to wear their cloak of Red Clouds with a certain amount of pride. He glared at all those that surrounded him and sized them up. But he was looking for only one to fight, the man who had bested Madara and Obito. If he took this man down then he could and would proclaim himself as the new leader of the free world. Red Eye Moon or not, this world would be his.

"NARUTO UZUMAKI!" He cried out. "GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE. IT IS TIME FOR THE LAST FIGHT! TODAY YOU DIE!"

Naruto was disheartened. He had hoped that in the face of total defeat that Sasuke would finally give up on his quest for vengeance but now it seemed he was on the suicidal quest of All or Nothing. He was about to run forward to face the Uchiha when a small hand found his and gave it a squeeze. Naruto turned to Sakura and his eyes showed he did not want to fight Sasuke.

Sakura was worried. She had remembered Naruto's prophecy that if these two were to fight that they would both die. Sakura knew her feelings for the dark haired avenger had faded to a level less than an acquaintance and border lined on even disgust, but she still had hoped that this could be avoided and his life could be spared. She had watched too many people die and did not want to see any more bloodshed.

But what of Naruto?

She had watched over him like a hawk for the week he was out of action. Some had called her obsessive in his care and showing the devotion of a life partner and lover. Many of her fellow Kunoichi had looked at her with eyes of jealousy but she had sworn it was strictly platonic. He was her best friend and she trusted him with her life as he trusted his with hers. To be lovers could almost be considered a step down from what they were to each other.

She did not want him to fight. She did not want him to die.

Looking into Naruto's blue eyes she could see that he did not want to fight either but he had to finish this. The world was in a critical stage and having the Uchiha running around and causing panic could not be tolerated. There was also the unspoken thought of the promise of a life time. Though she had relieved him of his promise, a part of her still wanted him to complete it. He was so strong now that it would be nothing for him to complete it now. He would do it this time. She knew he would.

Giving Naruto an assuring nod she whispered to him.

"Please be careful"

Letting out a slow breath and giving her a hug he whispered back.

"I will be fine."

He hoped he would be. Maybe he could still keep his promise after all. He had grown strong and now was the time to end this. Finally the great Uchiha would be brought back. He did not have to bring him back, the world was changing and Sasuke had little else to go to other than return to team seven but it was a matter of honour to keep his word. If he did not have his word then what did he have in the end if everything went bad?

NxS

* * *

Naruto stood before Sasuke with his arms crossed as Sasuke glared at the blonde. Sasuke could feel his blood boil just looking at the man. How could some LOSER best his master? He must have cheated somehow. There was no way the Dobe could be that strong. No one could lay a finger on Obito or Madara unless they wanted them to. That must have been it. They lost on purpose so that Sasuke could take over and lead this new world. That was the only explanation.

"I guess we can't talk about this and just ask you to come back to us?" Naruto's voice was low and accepting of his fate.

"That is all you ever want to do these days, Dobe! TALK! Well talk is cheap but if you want to talk so much then TALK TO MY BLADE!" Sasuke drew his sword in an instant and was one step away from charging at the blonde. He would not lose. Everything he had worked so hard for would not go to waste. He was the LAST UCHIHA and he DESERVED respect.

"Look at yourself Sasuke! It is OVER! AKATSUKI LOST! But you don't have to go down with them. There is still hope for you. This is the start of a new world. One of understanding and peace. You can be a part of it but you have to let go of the past and move forward like the rest of us. The old world was a cruel and dark place, but if you stand by me then I promise I will help you to make things right. In this world, you don't have to be the LAST Uchiha. You can be the FIRST! One of a brand new noble line! Please let go of your contempt before you lose everything you worked so hard for! My word is highly respected here and if I ask for you to be pardoned then I would find it difficult to find someone to object. But if you attack us now then I don't think even I can save you from a prison sentence."

Sasuke did not want to hear anymore and made this clear by charging at the blonde. Sasuke made a lunge but Naruto had disappeared from site, only to reappear balanced on the back of Sasuke's Kusanagi. Naruto ran down the back of the blade and kicked Sasuke in the jaw, sending him flying back into a pile of rubble.

When Sasuke emerged from the rocks, his Mangekyo Sharingan was activated. He paused in shock to see Naruto in Kyuubi Mode and at the starting stage of Sennin Mode. He was glowing with golden chakra and his eyes were starting to change to that of a toad with orange circles around them.

"Hn, I see you fear me! Why else would you go all out from the get go?!"

Naruto just shook his head with a sad smile as he remembered his own arrogance as a child. Always trying to win while holding back from the start. It would only escalate until he was in his ultimate form anyway. No real reason to hold back when it would come down to a final powerful blow at the end anyway.

"I am just tired of playing games Sasuke. If I am going to defeat you then it would be in this form anyway. I always was impatient. I just don't see why we need to work slowly up the notches when it will end like this anyway."

Sasuke sneered at the "oh so wise and sage like answer"

Running at the blonde he disappeared from sight in a blur. The Mangekyo had boosted him to an insane new level. As he appeared behind the glowing sage he swung his sword down only for it to be caught in Naruto's bare hand. Sasuke jumped back, letting go of his sword but was shocked when Naruto simple tossed the sword back to him. He caught it and looked dumbfounded at the blonde's stupid error. Why would he give him back his sword? AND HOW THE HELL DID HE CATCH IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!?

These questions only served to anger the already pissed off Uchiha. Why was he being so belittled? All the anger he had put into training was now for nothing?! NO! He would NOT live with that.

Again he lunged at the blonde and this time he made contact with his sword only for it to snap like a piece of wood. Looking questioningly at the blonde he dropped what remained of the hilt and blade.

"With the amount of chakra I am emitting subconsciously at the moment, your sword has no edge on it. You cannot cut me with just steel. I am also highly in tuned with the earth and all natural things. I can sense you a mile away if I need to. You cannot sneak up on me."

Sasuke roared in anger as he started to attack with every Taijutsu and Ninjutsu he had. Genjutsu was of little effect now that the Nine tails chakra was in Naruto. The battle became the most intense thing any ninja had seen since the war ended but for all Sasuke had, Naruto had a counter for it. Fire was met by water. Lightning by wind. How did the Dobe learn so much? HOW WAS HE SO DAMN STRONG!?

NxS

* * *

Sakura was standing to the sidelines and was ordering everybody back. She had a fear in the pit of her stomach that she knew where this was heading. If Naruto was not careful then he could die. However it was not only Naruto she was worried about. Sasuke was still a member of team seven and all Sakura wanted was for team seven to be whole again. She did not want either of them to die but Naruto was strong and though he looked to struggle from time to time in this battle, it looked like he still had an ace up his sleeve. Sure enough he did.

NxS

* * *

Sasuke was just about to release his Susanoo when he realised he could not move his left arm. A kunai was embedded in his shoulder and he for the life of him could not understand how Naruto could have landed such a blow. It just was not possible! Pain finally registered and that was all the time Naruto needed to kick Sasuke in the side and drop him to the ground. Naruto summoned five clones to hold him down, he only needed a moment and this chance he would not waste.

Kneeling down to the still stunned Uchiha, he started his work on the seal. Those years he had spent with the Pervy Sage would not be wasted. He had planned this all out. Years of study and research had led him to create this seal. All he needed was to know how to master the Kyuubi chakra so only he could remove the seal. He now had that ability.

Dipping his finger into Sasuke's wound for a moment; he drew the seal in Sasuke's blood on his exposed chest. The seal looked like some of the tattoos he had seen in Kiri but he got the idea from Orochimaru when he learned what that five element seal in the forest of death was actually doing to his chakra in the chunnin exams.

That seal of Orochimaru's had screwed up his chakra control to the point that he could not do the water walking exercise. But that was easy to remove. This one was refined and had a blood and chakra lock and would stop his body from mixing chakra. No chakra, no sharingan. This seal would reduce Sasuke to the power of a civilian. He would still have his taijutsu but without his sharingan, everything he had copied would be but a distant memory. He would only have what was taught to him before his sharingan. He would still be strong by normal standards, but a civilian none the less.

Finishing the seal in Sasuke's blood, Naruto poured Kyuubi and Sage chakra into the seal and locked it into his skin. Now only his chakra could release this seal. Dispelling the clones, Naruto helped Sasuke to his feet.

Sasuke pushed Naruto away with his one good arm and tried to activate his sharingan. To his horror, nothing worked. He could not even feel chakra in his body, let alone use it! His eyes widened in terror as he looked at the glowing man before him.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?" He cried.

Naruto smiled in triumph and began to explain the inner workings of the seal and how it could not be removed. Sasuke was going to be sick. He was now lower than a Gennin and at the mercy of the most powerful man before him. He was beaten. NO! HE WAS NOT BEATEN! Not yet. He still had one more card to play but he would only use that as a last resort.

"Don't you see Sasuke? I have freed you! You sought power as a way to escape your fate as a ninja! Ninja were just tools to be used and discarded. You did not want to end up like your brother. You wanted freedom to choose your own fate. You wanted power so you would not be a pawn in another person's game! You wanted your revenge and you got it! You killed Itachi and Danzo! You don't have the burden of being powerful and feared anymore. You can start your clan again. Now you can come home."

Sasuke did have to admit that the idea was tempting. He could settle down and start a family of his own. He did not have to be alone anymore. Too long had he been on the run. He was tired and wanted to come home. Maybe he could start over… but to start over would be to give up on a course that he had chosen from the beginning. To admit that he was wrong and Naruto was right. To be paraded as the returning lost soul. Another saved by Naruto. He could not let that happen. His pride would not let him. He was the last Uchiha and the Uchiha bowed to no one's will! It was the Uchiha bowing to the Senju that caused all this mess to begin with! He would rather die than let Naruto win!

"You think you are so clever don't you Naruto? You think you have won?!" he scowled.

"Well you are not the only one who can surprise people!"

A group of ninja had come out of hiding when the fighting had stopped and were now starting to surround the two. Sakura was at the front of the group and was wondering what Sasuke could possibly do to win. He was powerless. He had to come back with them, didn't he? What other choice did he have?

"You think that I would BOW DOWN to the likes of YOU?! You think that because you have taken away my power that I will just follow you like a lost sheep and hope someday you would give me my chakra back?! NO WAY!"

Naruto was confused. He would never ask Sasuke to bow before him. The idea was nice as a child but now as an adult he respected that a man had some pride. He wanted Sasuke as a partner, not a servant. As a friend, not a subordinate. There was an ominous feeling in the sages gut and he did not like where this conversation was going.

"IT WOULD NOT BE LIKE THAT SASUKE! I WANT YOU BY MY SIDE! NOT AT MY FEET!"

Naruto had to make it clear to Sasuke that he had grown up and would not want him to grovel at his feet like he did when he was a kid. As a child, their bitter rivalry had him wanting Sasuke to accept him and praise him for being better. As an adult however, he wanted to be acknowledged as an equal though, not a superior.

"BULLSHIT!" Sasuke screamed as he stood to his feet and clutched at the kunai handle still in his arm.

"YOU ARE JUST THE SAME AS YOU WERE AS A KID! YOU WANT ME TO THANK YOU FOR TAKING AWAY MY POWER AND "FREEING" ME?! WHAT A LOAD OF SHIT! YOU JUST COULDN'T ACCEPT THAT THAT I WILL **NEVER** SEE YOU AS BETTER THAN ME SO YOU HAD TO TAKE AWAY MY POWER! WELL YOU MAY HAVE MADE ME POWERLESS BUT YOU FORGOT ONE THING, NARUTOOO!"

Naruto was silent. He had never seen such hatred in Sasuke's eyes and that grim smirk he had on his face made him shiver. Something bad was happening and he did not know what.

"**THE UCHIHA NEVER BOW!**"

Sasuke's voice reverberated across the valley and held such defiance that some could have mistaken it for Naruto's, had it been a week earlier when he was fighting Obito.

Sasuke ripped the kunai from his shoulder with a grunt. His flesh was torn and blood ran freely down his arm. Holding firmly onto the knife with his right hand, he rammed the steel blade into his neck and ripped it across his throat and down to his collar bone. Such was the damage that some thought he would have removed his own head. Blood sprayed from the severed arteries and into Naruto's face.

Naruto's eyes widened in horror at the sight before him. Sasuke fell to his knees, gurgling in agony but not once letting his eyes break contact with the blonde. Such hatred. Such malice. His eyes were crying out in anger as to say "you drove me to this!" Blood dripped from Naruto's chin and onto the ground below.

Sasuke's body gradually stilled and fell to the dusted ground. His blood pooled and stained the dry ground, slowly being absorbed into the soil. Soon the blood stopped flowing from Sasuke's gaping wound as his heart stopped beating.

Silence.

The world was deathly quiet and not a single soul would make a sound. Only a single whisper from Naruto's lips dared break such a solemn moment.

"….Sasuke ….no.."

* * *

Yeah... I am somewhat predictable. So sue me. I like hearing your thoughts. Send me a message or a review. I dont care which. oh and I just had an idea. you dont know that much about me so I was thinking of putting an interesting fact about myself at the end of each chapter. Just a little way to get to know the Man behind the name so to speak. I want just one yes and then I will start with my new chapters. Whadda ya say?

ParadoxPhilosopher


	3. Repercussions of Failure

Chapter 2. Repercussions of failure.

There was nothing. That nothing stemmed from nothing and ended with nothingness. Darkness and silence clouded his mind as it tried to accept what had just happened. This was an impossibility. Years of research had developed a fool proof plan to finally bring the Uchiha home. Without power he would not be able to be corrupted by it. It would be an adjustment but if he gave it a go then he would slowly come to accept his circumstances and accept a new view on how he had to live his life. It was fool proof. He would have to accept it and move on or else… or else what?

THAT was the miscalculation. He had not taken the time to think about the "or else". He was so sure of his fool proof plan that he had forgotten that he was the fool! There was always a second option. He just did not think that Sasuke would be the type to accept it. His pride was always a problem but how could it have been so easy to choose death over something positive as a new lease on life with a new beginning? New possibilities and new hope of a future without the suffering of the past? All you had to do was let go of everything you had ever known in a hate filled life and accept the gift!

Why did this sound so familiar?

Obito…

He was promising the same thing. Sure his world was just a dream but perception is reality. If you _**see**_ something, _**feel**_ something then by your perception it must be real! Was he really asking Sasuke to do something that he himself, along with the rest of the Ninja Nations could not do themselves? If he was asked to accept this "dream world" or die, what would he choose? Such thoughts led his mind to a dark reality that he too would have slit his own throat. Defiant to the end. He and Sasuke were similar in more ways than he had taken time to realise. But it was Sasuke's own choice! He could not blame himself for his best friends' suicide… could he?

A scream filled the air and shattered the silence like glass. The world came back and hit like a hammer.

Blood.

Blood was on his hands and face as his whole body shook with grief. He looked past his hands to the bodies that lay before his on the crimson soil. Sakura was there, cradling the head of the now cooling body of his best friend. Tears were bursting from her eyes as she mourned him so passionately. Requited or not, she had at one time loved this man enough to promise to leave her home and follow him into the void of darkness his quest had called him to.

Yes. He knew her dark secret. His dark secret was embroiled with hers. He was there also. He watched it all happen and when she cried out her confession of love and devotion to Sasuke, he knew that his hopes of a future with her rested on Sasuke's answer. He could not leave the village like these two. Sakura was a nobody at the time. She would be classed as MIA and forgotten. Sasuke was the last holder of the sharingan and would be chased for retrieval, given a slap on the wrist and forgiven. He was too precious to have killed.

Naruto on the other hand was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. He was deemed a living weapon of dark origins and hated for his mere existence. Dreams of a better life outside these walls were dashed by the grim realisation that he was a no-body in the village but as soon as he left, would be tracked down and killed so that others could not have him. He was between a rock and a hard place. Damned if he stayed and dead if he left. His only chance was to stay and try to survive, to attempt to change his fate and become accepted as a human if nothing else.

As he watched Sasuke hit Sakura on the back of the head to silence her, he made a decision that would haunt him for years to come and had he chosen differently, might have saved many lives and stopped a good portion of this war.

He let Sasuke leave.

If Sasuke dreamed of a better life beyond these walls then so be it. He could go and find it. To stop Sasuke because he was trying to do something that He, Himself, could not seemed petty and bitter. Sasuke could have his freedom while Naruto could just curl up in his bed and dream of greatness.

Moving out from the hiding spot in the trees, he approached Sakura and picked her up and placed her gently on the park bench and disappeared to the shithole he slept in. It was cold and small but it was his home.

Had he known that letting Sasuke go would cause so much trouble he would have tried to stop him, but that was called forethought and something he never had at the time.

Looking at Sasuke's bloodied body and Sakura's broken form, he clearly still lacked it.

Falling to his knees and gasping for breath, the pain in his chest was intolerable and consuming. He had caused this debacle. He reached out his shaking hand to touch the lifeless body of his friend. How could it have all gone so wrong?!

They were supposed to come home the conquering heroes. They were supposed to be untouched by the grizzly hands of war and live out the remainder of their lives in a land of peace! He wanted to help his friend see the light! NOT BLIND HIM AND SEND HIM TO THE ETERNAL DARKNESS!

Oh God…

He had tried so hard to make things right.

He was still reeling from the loss of his friends' ultimate rejection when Sakura swatted his hand away.

"DON'T YOU DARE LAY A HAND ON HIM! DON'T FUCKING TOUCH HIM!"

Naruto's hurt eyes met the broken and hateful glare of Sakura. Tears were running down her cheeks and her eyes were turning red from the salty irritation of sadness. Those tears tore at his heart. No one should make Sakura-chan cry and not feel the fury of heaven. Usually He was the one to bestow divine justice upon those who hurt his friend but now he was the recipient. Such pain flooded him that he was the one to hurt her so badly. Greif riddled him as he thought that not only had he caused the death of his best friend but also broke the heart of his beloved Sakura-chan.

But surely she could not blame him for Sasuke's suicide? Naruto had not Forced Sasuke to do it. He had tried to help him from his suffering! He offered his helping hand every time he could and Sasuke had rejected it! IT WAS NOT HIS FAULT!

Maybe Sasuke was already just too broken to be fixed. Naruto tried to reason with himself to alleviate just a fraction of the guilt he was feeling.

His voice was as small as he was feeling right now.

"…sakura-cha.."

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP! YOU KILLED HIM! YOU FORCED HIM TO DO THIS YOU MONSTER!"

Sakura was hysterical. At watching the dark avenger kill himself, some old feelings that were buried deep had flooded back to her. Sasuke's rejection of them by suicide had reminded her of the times she had tried to console his broken soul with her love. If he rejected her then he rejected her love. Even though she did not love him like she used to, all of the times she had been rejected told her that this was the part of their ever repeating story to be heartbroken. She fell back into her safety net of when she was hurting, to lash out at Naruto.

"You heartless BASTARD! You FORCED HIM to do this! You made him leave us! You gave him no other choice! If only you had left him alone and stayed out of our lives then he would still be alive! It is YOUR FAULT HE IS DEAD! YOU DAMNED DEMON!"

He did not deserve it, she knew this. Sasuke was just too broken for her or even Naruto to fix. Sometimes even the impossible is impossible… but that did not stop the pain she felt.

"..B-b-bring him back.."

Naruto looked at her hopeful eyes with despair. He knew what she wanted him to do.

"Bring him BACK! You brought back over half a million ninja with the Rinnengan! What is one more?!" Sakura was clutching at straws here. She knew it but there was still a hope. Naruto performed miracles like this just last week! He could do it! Naruto can do ANYTHING!

Naruto was still shaken and breaking by the minute by her last verbal assault but he found his voice to speak. She would not want to hear it and he knew he would suffer more for saying it but it had to be said. Even if it killed him and broke their crumbling friendship apart, he had to break Sakura's hope of a miracle.

"I can't, Sakura-chan" His voice was little more than a whisper.

"I can't bring him back. …the Jyuubi… the Rinnengan… it's gone. It was a one-time thing. I can't bring him back."

Sakura's eyes darkened and she returned to crying over her fallen comrade.

"then you are useless to me…"

Her voice was cold and bitter. It left a bad taste in her mouth but she would not bottle up her resentment of the situation. She did not hate Naruto but she wanted him to leave her alone right now.

"I am so sorry Sakura chan" All he could do was apologise.

"GO TO HELL!" She screamed before bursting into a fresh batch of tears.

Naruto wanted to cry. He had lost two of his best friends in one day. Both had rejected him and now he knew that word would spread that he was a monster. Whether it was true or not did not matter. That was the trouble with rumours. Once they started, even if they were unbelievable, they would quickly spread and some would believe them. What more credible source do you need than his team mate and best friend? Jinchuuriki were the start of this war and though many had now been converted to seeing them as more than just a demon, such a remark from someone so close to him was sure to cause people to revert back to old prejudices.

As he stood and started to walk away from her, fellow ninja who were this morning looking at him like a hero, were now watching him with wary eyes. They stepped aside and made way for him but the eyes on him held no comfort. It was already starting. People are fickle but that did not mean it did not affect him any less. As he made his way out of the camp, Naruto began to think that maybe his promises of a world with understanding was just as much a dream world as Obito's.

He could hear it from where he stood. The whispers were already starting. Questions of if he had really killed a friend. Was a jinchuuriki really a monster? Has nothing changed?

Naruto was at a loss. He needed time away. He searched out a secluded spot and took a meditative seating position. He tried to find an inner peace he had while in the sage mode but although he could enter the mode, all he found was darkness.

NxS

Sakura was starting to calm down from her tears as the crowds started to disperse out of boredom and some out of respect. Ino had raced over from the other side of the camp as soon as she heard what was going on. What she found had left her breathless and dry mouthed. Sakura was Holding Sasuke and looked to have cried her soul out. She was a mess and covered in his blood but what really confused her was the absence of Naruto. He was always the first by her side and would only stand down from his protective post to Ino who could handle "Girl things".

If he was not there then something had gone seriously wrong. The only thing that she could put it down to was that Sasuke was dead and he was having just as much trouble as she was. But where Sakura would cry, Naruto would seek isolation. She had never seen him cry. It was a common legend that he never did. That he was the indomitable personification of good will and joy. For a long time his friends had believed this to be fact until he was discovered to be alone in the mountains, on his hands and knees, bawling his eyes out and cursing himself for his own failures. That was his private way of dealing with the strain that was always upon him.

Ino knew of it for having seen it with her own eyes one time. She never spoke of it to anyone out of respect for him but silently wondered how many of his close friends knew of his coping mechanism and kept silent too. It was also obvious that some clearly did not and it seemed strange that it was those closest to him that were oblivious.

Hinata was one that she knew of. Whenever the woman spoke of him it was always of how _happy he always is_. A person who knew the truth would never make such a bold statement. If he wanted to lie to protect his friends then fine, but his friends held no such oath to him and though they would never say it out loud to compound the lie, they would always tip-toe around the truth in the hopes that someone would be brave enough to confront the issue.

Choji was another. It was not that he didn't care. He just lacked the eye for knowing people that she and Shikamaru had.

She was not sure who else knew that he would suffer alone but there was one person she knew was oblivious to it and that was Sakura, and for good reason. She was the reason FOR the lie.

Everything that her fellow blonde did was for her. She complained that he was messy and he would turn up the next day, finely groomed. She said he was too loud; he didn't speak for a week. She said he was too quiet and he was back to his old self. It was always a juggling act for him and she didn't know why he even bothered until she saw him screw up one time for something so miniscule and get absolutely decked. If Sakura had used that ferocity in the first chunnin exams then she was sure not even Sasuke would have beaten her.

Naruto suffered at the hands of both his team mates and to complain would just be invoking more suffering. No wonder he tried so hard. Had things been different then maybe Ino would have come to respect him sooner and would have stood up for him more. But truth was that she was a coward, how better to hide from hurtful words and rumours than to be the one spreading gossip? No one cared about the source only so long as the stories kept coming.

But her own problems were not on her mind now. Gossip queen or not, she had to help her friend.

Leaning down and gently pulling Sakura away from Sasuke, she held her friend in a tight embrace. Maybe if she hugged tightly enough then the demons of the world could not harm her. It never worked but it was still comforting.

As if knowing it was Ino without even looking, Sakura calmed and dried her eyes. She stayed quiet but was still shaking.

Ino decided that now might not be the best time to open up the still raw wounds that were obviously wracking the girls mind. Taking her arms she slowly led her back to their tent and sat her on a chair.

The tent was large and was housed by no less than ten Kunoichi. It was well furnished but makeshift as it was only a temporary base until they made it back to Konoha. With the way that negotiations were going, that might only be a few days away.

Handing Sakura a fresh cup of herbal tea with jasmine, Ino took the seat in front of her and wondered what could have caused such calamity in the medic's emotions. As if to almost slap her forehead, Sasuke's death instantly came to mind. That would screw with any of team seven's members. But what was it in particular? They all knew he would probably die and even Kakashi was accepting that he had already died in the war. It must have been the circumstances of his death.

Now in the privacy of their tent, Ino could try to get some answers. Having seen the trembling medic finish her tea and start to calm down, Ino felt comfortable to ask a question. She would start with a basic one.

"Sakura? What happened this morning?"

Sakura looked dejectedly at the buxom blonde and teared up again. Clutching at the empty cup for all she was worth, she uttered three words.

"Naruto killed Sasuke."

Ino was not surprised by this. In truth, she half expected it.

"…but he did it in such a fucked up way! He was so cruel! He took away everything that Sasuke held dear and drove him insane!"

This did not sound right. Naruto was a lot of things that could drive you up the wall but he was never cruel. Ino knew from her years as Gossip Queen that sometimes you don't get the whole truth from one source and often you need to hear it from a few different people in order to get the entire picture. For years she had heard that the Kyuubi was evil incarnated but after having spoken with Naruto and even the Kyuubi himself, she found him to be aggressive and ruthless but not PURE evil.

There had to be more to this story.

"What happened?" Ino probed gently. The medic was still in a rough state and a wrong word could cause her to clam up and it would take weeks of coaxing to get her to talk about it.

"Sasuke turned up and challenged Naruto to a fight. Naruto easily overpowered him and drew some weird seal on him that would stop him from mixing chakra and told him he was now free to make a new destiny now that he was not burdened with power…"

Ino was surprised that Naruto could be that industrious. She knew of hundreds of cases where a ninja had mastered an A-rank technique or higher and had gone completely power mad. Thinking they were invincible and superior to all around them. From the files she had read on the subject, even Kakashi had a moment of madness while he was mastering the sharingan. The sharingan was more of a curse to the Uchiha clan than a blessing. Such power from a young age had caused all sorts of madness. Naruto was on the right track to block off Sasuke's Chakra. With that gone he could see that there was more to life than power. He really would be "free" as Naruto had put it. Able to start from scratch and have a firm grasp on reality. How Naruto had not gone power mad was completely beyond Ino's understanding. The man was an anomaly.

"…but Sasuke just went crazy. Sasuke valued power and it was all he had left after Akatsuki and his team were defeated! Naruto took everything away from Sasuke and claimed he was trying to save Sasuke but all he did was make him suffer! He was so mad that he… that he…"

Sakura was in tears but Ino was on the edge of her seat. It was not out of disrespect but she wanted to know what happened so she could help Sakura.

"..HE KILLED HIMSELF!"

Ino was shocked. Never in a million life times did she imagine that the proud Uchiha would resort to such a thing. It was not in his character. She could see him trying to fight against it or even play along with the "start afresh" attitude to try and gain trust in order to get his chakra back and bide his time for revenge but to take his own life seemed too rash for him. Was his hatred so deep for them that he would rather die by his own hand?

Naruto may have been on the right track by removing the problem of his sharingan but it was obvious that the damage was done and he was too late to save his friend. Naruto must have been distraught. Having to watch his friend commit suicide in front of him rather than accept his help. Poor guy.

But Sakura's tone changed from angst to one of pure malice and her face distorted into rage as she continued here saga.

"And then that sadistic FUCK of a monster tried to act all sorry and sad! '_I am so sorry Sakura-chan" _and "_I can't bring him back to life like everyone else"…_He just hated him so much that he would not bring him back! So I told that monster to go where he belonged! I TOLD HIM TO BO BACK TO HELL!"

Ino was close to strangling this bitch. Sakura had been treating Naruto a lot better lately but some bad habits die hard. She had reverted back to hurting her team mate when she was hurting too. Naruto had done everything right by Ino's book and was now being blasted for it going belly up.

Sasuke's suicide was a surprise but not unexpected in a weird sort of way. He was always broken and using his power as a crutch. In order to heal though, he had to have that crutch removed so he could walk on his own two feet again. Much like an addict, he had to detox before he could move on again. Some addicts just can't handle it and take the easy way out. It was sad but not unheard of. Such things were always a gamble.

Ino came to realise that the reason why Naruto was not at Sakura's side was not JUST because he had lost Sasuke to something that had claimed him long ago, but also because he had been called the worst thing a friend could call him and by the one closest to him to boot!...a _Monster_..

Naruto worshiped the ground Sakura walked on and if she told him to do something then he would just ask how many times she wanted it done. Ino put it down to what those who followed Jashinism were like. Hidan was another example of such subservience. Hidan was so afraid of his deity that he worshipped it night and day. Jashin was the god of death and destruction and its followers, though they did evil things, only did so out of the hope that they could stave off the wrath of their evil deity.

Naruto was kind of the same. His deity was this pink haired woman and every action he took, spoke more of respect and fear rather than true love. Ino doubted that the man would even know what to do if someone actually loved him.

Probably blow her off out of fear from Sakura's wrath or not understand even the concept of caring for another without suffering. Hinata's confession to him at the Battle of Pein came to mind.

But all of this boiled to one disturbing fact.

Sakura had told Naruto to go to Hell.

Naruto was missing.

Ino had the right mind to slap Sakura for being so careless with her words… So she did… Hard!

Sakura's stunned expression was only compounded more when confronted by an irate Ino. What had she done that was so bad? And what the hell did Ino care?

Ino clasped her hands like a vice on Sakura's red vest with a grip that would make the Shinigami jealous. Shaking the woman roughly she screamed in frustration.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE!?"

Naruto was a good friend of Ino's, as he was with all of the Konoha twelve. Each of them had shared at least onetime when he had stood up and shown them that he was able to be counted on. Ino's time when Naruto had helped her out, was when he took out four jounnin single handed who were going to rape her. She had snuck out for some fresh air on a mission and been cornered by an enemy patrol. Only Naruto had noticed she was missing and followed her. He got there just in time. Memories of that mission still haunted her sleep but it was after that mission that she started to notice the loudmouthed knucklehead was far more than he lead on. She had expected him to brag to everyone that he had quite literally saved her ass, but he never said a word.

How many others had he saved and kept his mouth shut? She found out that it was really quite common and all of the Konoha twelve had similar stories involving the Gennin saving them. Ino had a lot of respect for him after that.

"Where did he go?! AFTER you told him to go to Hell… WHERE DID HE GO?!"

Sakura looked at her friend with dawning realization at her words. Did she really tell Naruto to go to Hell? After everything he had done for her, had she truly been so cruel?! Stuttering and trying to find her words, she finally spoke.

"I…I…d-don't know!"

Ino dropped Sakura like a sack of shit and stormed to the tents doors. Taking a deep breath, she called out to her squad. Shikamaru and Choji were there in a moment.

"What is it Ino?" Choji asked.

"Sakura told Naruto to go to Hell" she exclaimed.

"WHAT!?" both men gasped.

They were shocked that she would say such a thing to their friend but anger could wait for later. First things came first.

"Where is Naruto?" Shikamaru spoke up. His lazy exterior was shed in an instant. He was taking charge of this situation.

"I don't know. I don't think anyone has seen him in over an hour." Ino's eyes showed concern and fear.

"This is bad. Choji, Grab a hold of Sai, Kiba, Shino and Neji. We need them to find Naruto ASAP! Tell them to meet me at sector 43 THIS INSTANT!"

Choji nodded at the order and was gone without hesitation to find the others.

Sakura was confused. All she did was insult Naruto and he had gone off to sulk somewhere. She did it all the time and he bounced back just fine.

"I don't understand. What are you getting all worked up about?"

Shikamaru answered her question with a glare that could melt steel.

"What was it you told him to do before he left?"

Sakura lowered her head in shame as she recounted the words she had told him. She had called him a monster. Called him useless. Told him to go to Hell.

Shikamaru's voice broke her reminisce.

"And what does Naruto do when YOU tell him to do something?"

Sakura felt a cold chill run down her spine. Without fail, Naruto always did what she ordered him to do.

"oh god…. YOU HAVE TO FIND HIM!" she cried out in grim realization.

Shikamaru turned away from her and made his way out of the tent.

"We are working on that already" and with that he disappeared into the shadows.

Sakura could only stand there and stare at the ground and pray. She did not mean it when she said it. She was just so angry and hurt at Sasuke's rejection and Naruto was there. He was always there. Her mother always told her that her temper would get her into trouble, maybe now she would actually try and take some steps to change her attitude towards her friend. If he still was her friend after all this. Closing her eyes, she prayed and let a tear slide down her cheek for the first good reason today.

"_Naruto… please don't do anything stupid….please be ok_"

* * *

Author's Note: There ya have it! the new chapter. I am still getting used to writing these long stories. I cant understand how people can make them over 200,000 words! I struggle to just get 4,000 per chapter! I think that the trick to writting a long story is to either have side stories in the main one or just the ability to ramble about pointless things. still, lotta respect for those who can make a story last. this one has a long way to go. I hope I can get it to the end and be satisfied with the outcome. And now for the little fact about the Author! I am a perfectionist... but I am also lazy...

Please let me know what you think of the story so far. I love to hear your thoughts.

ParadoxPhilosopher


	4. Cause For Concern

Authors Note: Hey there. I dont know if I am getting better or worse but I am starting to churn them out. in all honesty though... I am not happy with this chapter. not sure if I am keeping it interesting or not. got a long way to go though. ON TO THE STORY!

Cause For Concern

* * *

He started by regulating his breathing. His posture was one taught by the toad masters and allowed him to commune with the natural world. Though the natural world could seem chaotic, to those that understood its inner workings, there was always a symbiotic balance. Destruction would more often than not lead to new creation. Life and death were natural to this world. It was when Mankind entered the picture and tried to change things without understanding how it worked, that it all went to hell. His breathing slowed and he could feel the world's natural energies surround him.

All that time trying to master the sage mode had helped him to calm down and think more rationally. So, now he would put that to good use. Dwelling on hurtful words would not help him. He needed to analyse his situation and find a means to move forward. He was an emotional wreck right now, but just because you are hurting does not mean that the world stops. A childhood of misery and neglect followed by teenage years of war and watching friends and mentors die before your very eyes had taught him this lesson a thousand times.

Ok, time to put it all into order.

Fact: The world was at a current state of peace and understanding.

Naruto may have been one to boast about how great he was but that was just his mask to hide his deeper insecurities. If others saw how great he was then maybe he would see it himself. But even he had to give himself a metaphysical pat on the back for his involvement with that one. He was not foolish enough to say that it was ONLY him to bring the world to peace but it did bring a sense of self achievement to that particular claim to fame.

Fact: He had saved a lot of lives.

True, a lot of those lives would never have been put in danger by the Akatsuki if jinchuuriki, such as himself, had never existed never existed in the first place and the chakra beasts were left to themselves to be mere legends told around campfires, but it could be seen as a bit of a stretch to blame him for the war. It takes two to fight.

Fact: 10,000 people were still dead.

That one was a hard pill to swallow. That was the horror of war. He had saved over half a million but even he could not save everyone. What bugged him was the fact that those people had died to save him. Yes, you could say that it was for the freedom of the world but they could still have let him die and just kept Killer B tucked away safe. Naruto felt like he was not necessary to the victory of the war. He may have been an important piece on the shogi board, but he did not feel like he was worth 10,000 lives. Even if you divided it by the jinchuuriki the Alliance protected, Killer B and himself, that was still 5,000 that died for him.

Mothers

Fathers

Brother

Sisters

Children

Parents

….family.

Why should families be broken apart for someone who never had one? How much was one life worth? If it meant that he could save his share of the 10,000 that had died then he would gladly take their place. He had friends to stand by him and see him as part of a makeshift family but how close was he really to them?

Fact: Sasuke was dead and Sakura resented ever having known him.

The ones closest to him had rejected him. Sasuke chose to die rather than accept his friendship. Sakura had pretty well disowned him as a friend. Called him a monster and a demon and told him to go to Hell. THAT was a particularly nasty new low.

Naruto could understand her feelings though. He didn't like it, but he could understand. Death had a nasty way of making people say things that they did not mean. Greif could cloud the mind and make you lash out at the ones you could believe were responsible in a way. He had also fallen into this trap when Jiraiya died and said some really unpleasant things to Tsunade. He went so far as to blame his death on her. That was not a high point in his life. Yeah… he could understand Sakura's reaction.

The realization that the amount of pain he had felt that day to make him say those words to Tsunade, was now being felt by Sakura was also weighing heavily on him. It was not the words that she said to him that hurt him, but the fact that she was hurting enough to say them.

Naruto was supposed to be her protector. He was her best friend and though others only saw the violence that she bestowed upon him and the way he would always defend her, they did not see the kind and caring side to her. She had to put on her emotional armour against the world just like him. She showed the world that she was aggressive and hard as stone. No one would mess with her, not even her closest friend. That was her armour to defend herself from others thinking she was weak. The downside was that sometimes her armour was a bit too thick. Only Naruto knew of her softer side. The side that loved ice-cream and scary movies. Going shopping but never actually buying anything. Reading romance novels and dreaming of a prince charming to come and take her away from this dark world. _A prince with dark hair and was just_ _misunderstood_. He knew her inside out and to a degree, she knew him.

She knew everything that there was to know about him. About his past and where he would like to go on sunny days. That his favourite dish was NOT actually ramen and that he would trade his ramen for a home cooked meal with her. She knew about his family and how he had trouble concentrating at the academy because he was constantly getting glares.

But she did not know about how life really affected him. She was still holding onto the illusion he portrayed of the happy go lucky knucklehead. It was all a lie but it was to protect her from herself. If she knew what her words did to him and how much those punches really did hurt then she would destroy herself. He guessed it was all part of being a jinchuuriki. A human sacrifice. He was born to fall on his sword for others and even if he wasn't, all those years of villagers whispering to him what he was and what his fate should be had really done a number on his head. If you hear something often enough then you will start to believe it as true.

This line of thinking would have brought most people down and depressed. Instead, Naruto embraced it. It was somewhat …freeing… to see yourself as insignificant. It may have left you cold and alone inside and silently crying yourself to sleep most nights with a prayer of never waking up, but if you embraced your role as a sacrificial piece then you could be as reckless as you wanted. No one would mourn the loss of a jinchurriki. It would be celebrated.

Naruto shook his head to drive out these ever darkening thoughts. He was a war hero. A saviour to many and a prominent figure in this new world! He was now well respected and certainly a prime candidate for Hokage. Sure Sasuke might be dead and he had lost Sakura's respect and friendship and was now on his own again and people were starting to hate him for being a Jinchuu-…. DAMN IT! HE WAS NOT GOING TO BE LOST IN MISERY! HE WOULD FIGHT IT! FIGHT LIKE HE ALWAYS DID!

He would not lay down and die yet! His resolve to complete things he had started would not let him dwell on the sometimes comforting thoughts of his own demise and an end to his suffering. No, he still had things to do.

NxS

* * *

Neji and Sai were flying high above the encampment. The added altitude of Sai's ink beast bird allowed Neji's Byakugan to see to all new lengths and there was scarcely a thing that did not get noticed by the ever watchful eyes of these two men. They could see the slightest movements on the ground and all the hustle of the now departing Allied Forces.

It had been decided by the Kages that the borders should go back to the way they were before the creation of the sound village and Akatsuki bases would be handed over to whoever's territory they fell into. A truce was kept in place for the total of one month so that the forces could disperse at their leisure as to allow the still wounded some time to heal enough for travel. After the month was up then negotiations would begin to solidify or nullify the active party's roles in the Alliance. It was far too soon to state if the Alliance would hold up in the real world. If it were to hold up, then the entire economy on the ninja system would need to be overhauled to allow ninja missions to be carried out without the risk of allies attacking allies. There was a lot of work to be done and some questioned if it could be done in a month's time but the Raikage stated that the month was to allow ninja back to their territories and think if they wanted the Alliance to continue.

Kiba, Shino and Shikamaru were on the ground with radios and binoculars to keep an eye and ear on the aerial search team. The detail that Naruto was MIA was being kept quiet as no one wanted to spread the reason for his temporary disappearance around. There would be a mass panic in the ranks and many who had only just met the blonde and proclaimed him as a lifelong friend would rush in to interfere with a matter that did not concern them. Not even all of the Konoha twelve were in on Naruto's disappearance. Naruto always kept his matters private so that the direct parties involved would not feel the backlash of actions taken by well-meaning busy bodies. It was for this reason that Neji and not Hinata was in on the search. If Hinata had caught wind of what Sakura had done to Naruto then she would have teared the young woman a new one. Lee was kept out because he would rush in with his belief that the "spirit of youth" could fix all. Shikamaru was sure that Naruto did not want to hear an overly emotional speech of encouragement in dark times by Lee and by defacto, Maito Guy. Other members of the Konoha twelve were kept at arm's length because a lot of them did not know of Naruto's struggles. Naruto did not want to drag his friends down with him when he was in a funk, so he would create a lie that he was fine and overly happy. If all of his friends knew how much he suffered then they would be blown away by how little they knew and would not know how to help. Only these five knew of Naruto's self-isolating tendencies when hurt and they were going to keep it that way out of respect for Naruto.

Shino and Kiba were at opposite ends of the camp and were trying to get a scent on the missing blonde. Shikamaru was on the ground in the centre, monitoring the radio and giving directions.

"Shogi Knight to Baskerville's Hound. Have you Located trace of the Enigma?"

They spoke in code as to keep anyone listening on the wavelengths in the dark to their true objectives. Naruto was often referred to as the most unpredictable and puzzling thing that anyone had ever met. Enigma was often his codename for those who wanted to talk about him without anyone knowing. Not even Naruto knew of his nickname.

"Baskerville's Hound to Shogi Knight. Negative on trace to the East. Moving to sector 6-5-9"

"Roger that, Baskerville's Hound"

Shikamaru changed his attention from Kiba's radio to Shino's.

"Shogi Knight to Entomologist. Do you have a lock on the Enigma?"

"Affirmative! Trail leading North by North-West to sector 2-5-1. Do not have a visual but I believe I am getting close."

"This is Hawkeyes calling Shogi Knight! We have visual on the target and confirm that he is on the North ridge of sector 2-5-1."

"Shogi Knight to Hawkeyes. Can you ascertain condition on the target?"

Sai and Neji made another pass over the ridge to check on the speck of blonde and orange on the cliff edge bellow.

"Negative Shogi Knight. Target is stationary and physically fine but we all know that doesn't count for much. Permission to approach the Enigma?"

Shikamaru gave a slight sigh of relief. At least Naruto had not done anything to harm himself. He was never the type to do anything stupid like that but even the strongest had a breaking point. That was why he was called the Enigma though. He would bend every now and then, but he never broke.

"Shogi Knight to Hawkeyes. Permission denied. You are to wait until all parties arrive. We are on our way."

"Five by five"

"Roger"

"Ten four"

Shikamaru put down the Radio receiver and switched the system off. Getting up from his chair and desk, he made his way to see the Golden fox. He was worried about his mental state more than anything. That is why he ordered his friends to hold off approaching him until they were all there. That way they might have a better chance if something went wrong.

NxS

* * *

Shino was crouching behind a tree as Sai and Neji swooped down from the sky next to him. Sai held out a scroll as his great ink beast bird returned to the parchment. Giving a nod to them, Shino pointed to the blonde by the cliff. He was standing at the very edge as he looked up into the sky with a puzzled look on his face. He was clearly deep in thought but about what the three shinobi had no clue.

Shikamaru and Kiba arrived a moment later up the same track that Shino had used. Looking at one another with a tense expression on their faces they then looked to the blonde. He was dangerously close to the edge and even a strong breeze looked like it might nock him over.

Kiba grimaced at the man's precarious position. "So… how do you want to handle this? He may not be thinking of jumping but I don't want to scare him and have him fall."

"No shit Sherlock but if we approach him and he is planning on jumping, then from this distance we have no hope of stopping him. Sage or not, from this height he would be dead." Neji gave the blonde a careful scrutiny.

Shino pushed his heavily tinted sunglasses up his nose and looked to Shikamaru.

"You could try and catch him in your Shadow Possession Jutsu but then he will know that something is up, also if we try to sneak up on him and he catches us then we have the same problem."

Shikamaru groaned "what a pain in the ass. I guess we will just do what Naruto does best and approach boldly and hope for the best."

No sooner had they left the tree line did Naruto call out. "Hey guys! I was wondering when you were going to come out from those trees. I see we are moving out eh? About time I guess. I can't wait to get home!"

Naruto turned and stepped away from the edge and saw the five men in front of him visibly relax as he walked towards them. The smile on his face was almost blinding in its brilliance. Not a shred of depression or sadness emanated from the Enigma of everlasting sunshine that this man was. Kiba took this as a good sign.

"Hey Naruto! Glad to see you are alright! We were looking for you!"

"Yeah I know. Kinda guessed that when Neji and Sai flew over me… twice"

Shikamaru walked forward and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"We heard about what happened… With Sasuk-" He was cut off by Naruto waving his arms in the air in excitement and joy.

YEAH I TOTALLY KICKED HIS ASS! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN IT! I WAS ALL LIKE 'COME BACK TO US SASUKE AND START THE NEW CLAN OR I WILL KICK YOUR ASS' AND HE WAS ALL LIKE 'I WILL NEVER BOW TO YOU' SO WE STARTED FIGHTING AND I COMPLETELY OWNED HIM! IT WAS TOTALLY COOL!"

Shikamaru was now getting concerned. This was not the story that was circulating the camp sites. Sasuke had killed himself and any normal person would be at least a little put out by that. Naruto was by no means what you would consider normal, but he was human. Sometimes even that came into question but Naruto always was driven by his emotions.

Neji was not buying it either.

"But what about what Sakura said to you? She called you a demon in public and told you to go to hell. Aren't you mad at her for saying those things?"

Naruto did not even blink or falter in the slightest. He just grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"Emotions were high and things were said. I mean I had just killed the man She loves. I can't blame her for being a little upset with me. I will just have to make it up to her somehow."

Naruto turned and looked over the valley at the Allied forces as they made their way back home. His smile was strong but his eyes for a brief moment gave a slightly pained glass to them.

"Well we better get going then! I don't want Sakura-chan to be even more pissed at me for making her worry. Hehe."

And with that he took off toward the cliff edge, giving the five men a mischievous smirk.

"LAST ONE THERE CARRIES THE AKIMICHI PORTABLE FRIDGE BACK TO KONOHA!"

Naruto leapt off the cliff and summersaulted before landing on a large piece of shale and gluing his feet to it with chakra then riding it down the cliff face at breakneck speed. His laughter could be heard all the way down and out to the campsite.

Shikamaru finally let out a long slow breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was worse than he had imagined.

"What was all that about?" Kiba asked.

"I guess he really was not affected by it" suggested Sai, only to receive a glare from Neji.

Sai was a lot better at reading emotions now but that didn't mean he didn't suck at reading between the lines. Naruto's mask was WAY too perfect. The only give away that it was a mask was that he showed NOTHING but happiness. Even the stoic Neji would have faulted if Tenten had said such things to him. The lie was obvious because of how well it was concealed. If he had shown one emotion other than joy, ANYTHING other than that, then they would know he was hurt but would be getting better soon. He had over compensated his destroyed soul and only those who knew any different than his flamboyant attitude towards life would know the difference.

"This is not good. In all the years I have known him, I have never seen him this repressed. He is forcing himself to feel happy, this is not his usual mask he wears. I almost want to believe he is fine but… I just know he is tearing himself apart." Shikamaru drawled.

"How do you know that?" Shino asked

Shikamaru started to rub his temples as he was fighting off a headache. He was a master at strategy but it was Ino who was the one to understand the mind.

"He said that he killed Sasuke... Sasuke killed himself though. That means that he is blaming himself for Sasuke's death and has taken Sakura's words to heart. He was right about emotions being high and things being said that were not meant but that does not mean he isn't hurting. I have a bad feeling about this. What a pain in the ass."

"So let's go down there and kick Sakura's ass and make her apologise to him! She needs to know that she can't treat him like that!" Kiba yelled. Clearly he was wanting to do SOMETHING productive today.

Neji shook his head. "We can't interfere. Naruto still thinks that his mask works on us. If we interfere then he will know that he can't get away with things around us and just push us away "for our own good" and hide his troubles from us. We are in a delicate situation. We know that he is hurting but we can't let him know that we know. We are ninja, our best work is completed when no one even knows anything is being done. We work from the shadows to make sure he is alright."

Shikamaru looked down the cliff face and saw the skid trail in the stone that Naruto had made on his decent. His eyes narrowed in concentration.

"When we get back to Konoha… We need to keep and extra careful eye on him, I want to know if he does anything suspicious."

Neji stood beside him and looked at the same groves in the stone.

"I agree. Anyone in his position should be a mess. What do you think he will do?"

Shikamaru closed his eyes and he took a steady breath. Working with Naruto was always difficult for him and always for the same reason. Opening them, he looked to the now setting sun, his face taunt with confusion and worry.

"I have no idea what he will do. He is always unpredictable. THAT is what concerns me."

NxS

* * *

Naruto already knew they were going to be watching him. They always did. He knew they would try and keep him safe but there are some things that you could not protect a jinchuuriki from. One of them was hate.

As he walked through the campsite, he was not welcomed with the same ardour as he was the day before. They still embraced his presence and accepted him as their hero but there was a sense that something was off. A vibe that he was now able to pick up thanks to his sage training. He could feel what they were feeling. It was not an exact art and he could not pick up the emotions of a single person but a large group that carried the same aura was now easier to read to him. As he kicked a small stone on the path and smile like the child he was pretending to be, he could already feel the fear in their hearts. Fear of the unknown.

Sakura had called him a demon and a monster in a public display of anger and hatred. Those who witnessed such a thing without knowing their personal history with Sasuke would be led to believe that she actually meant it. With a close friend calling another a demon, it might as well have been written in blood on his birth certificate and signed by the Fire Diamyo. The whispers were already starting. Rumours were already spreading. Fear is a highly contagious thing and mixed in with ignorance, it is dangerous.

Sakura may not have meant to, but her careless words had set back every good thing in the war he had done for these people. If left unchecked, fear would morph into hatred. He could already see it in some of their eyes but they were too hesitant to make an action against the Hero of the Fourth Shinobi War. All it would take would be one person to start it. One wrong move. One slip of the tongue. Naruto had to be mindful of his actions.

Smiling politely and giving a wave to those around him, he tried to wear off the tension that was slowly building. He was met with hesitance and awkward smiles. He was powerful and completely unknown apart from his name and some of his deeds. It was always the unknown that people were frightened the most of.

Making his way to his tent, he pushed the flap open and entered. He had better start to pack so that they could leave early in the morning. He was really starting to get homesick. Thoughts started to swirl in his mind of what was really waiting for him there. Happy thoughts like Ichiraku Ramen, the Hokage Monument and training ground seven. He also wondered if he would finally be promoted. He had gone into this war a Gennin and was now recognized as on par with the Kages. Perhaps even surpassing them. They HAD to make him Chunnin at least!

Naruto's thoughts were disrupted by Sakura and Ino entering his tent. Ino was pleased to see he was back but Sakura was dragging her feet and immensely interested in her shoes right now.

Naruto figured that Ino had dragged her here and was trying to make them at least be on a talking basis. Naruto did not really know what to say to Sakura. Did he want an apology? Was he supposed to apologise? Were they even friends right now?

By the look on Sakura's face, she was clearly uncomfortable. There was no way that she wanted to be anywhere near him. He had failed. He had promised to bring Sasuke back; he just didn't think it would be in a body bag. When it came to almighty fuck ups on his part, there was nothing greater on his list. Letting Sasuke go was the crowd favourite for a while but now there was a new chart topper.

Naruto turned to Ino as if to ask for some sort of guidance. Ino took this moment to give a stern look at Sakura and a firm nudge in the side. Sakura made a slight yelp but stepped forward to confront the blonde man that now towered over her. He was only five inches taller but it might as well have been five miles for how she was feeling. Ino was there to make sure she apologised for what she had said. She wanted to apologise. She needed to apologise.

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she looked up into his eyes. His face was smiling kindly but his eyes were always the thing that got to her. She felt like she could see his soul in them, and right now, it was shattered. Sakura had spent the most of the day hearing whispers around the camp about Naruto.

Some were saying that he was terribly wronged by his team mate and she was a horrid bitch. Others were saying that she had stood up to the man who had killed her lover out of jealousy and that Naruto was really just like all the other Jinchuuriki. A Monster in disguise. A demon walking around and wearing a human like a suit. None of these made her feel any sort of comfort. She was only glad that Hinata had already left and headed home

Now as she stood before him and looked into his incredibly blue eyes, she just could not take it. She had been so angry and hurt that Sasuke would do such a thing that she had just snapped. She must have been out of her mind. She was not worthy of being in this man's presence and dropped her head in shame. Tears once again broke from her eyes.

Naruto decided to take the Initiative. He knew she hated him for what he had done but he had to try and comfort her. Friend or not, he cared about her. He would do anything to take away her tears. Taking a step forward, he wrapped her in a tight hug and brought her head to his shoulder. She burst into audible sobs and her body started to shake. She was in rough shape without Sasuke. He had to find a way to fix things. He had to make it right again.

NxS

* * *

Sakura was breaking down on his shoulder and crying her heart out. Why was he so good to her? Why did she always hurt him so badly? How could he be forgiving all the time? The man could not be human. A human would have turned her away by now but Naruto was something else. All he had to do was hold her and whisper into her ear that everything would be alright and she would believe it. He kept whispering that he was going to fix things, that he did not know how but he was going to find a way to make it right. She did not know what he meant but right now she didn't care. All she could do was cry.

NxS

* * *

Ino and Sakura left a few minutes after Sakura settled down and before they left, Naruto promised that he would make things right so the Sakura didn't have to be sad anymore. Sakura smiled and thanked him before disappearing out of his tent and into the night.

As soon as they left, Naruto sat down on his bed and closed his eyes. He had a lot to think about and was not sure how much time he would have to do it in. He had made a promise of a lifetime to Sakura and he was going to keep it. Somehow, Someway…. He was going to bring Sasuke back.

Naruto opened his eyes as he now stood before the open gate that was the Kyuubi's cell. Looking the great beast in the eye with a look of determination, he uttered a question that would greatly alter his future.

"Kurama, How many ways do you know of to raise the dead?"

* * *

I wonder how many of you saw that coming? I thought it was pretty freaking obvious but then I already know the story haha. Reveiw if you want! Love to hear your thoughts and oppinions. sorry to those who wanted Naruto and Sakura to be distant after their fight but like I said, we got a looooong way to go yet.

Fact about the Author: I have been told I have a deep and soothing voice that has been likened to Morgan Freeman. Not bad for a white guy. hehe


	5. How to raise the Dead

Hey there! ParadoxPhilosoher IN DAH HOUSE YO! this is funny because I am Australian and we do not talk like this. I am finally publishing the next part of THAB and can only say that I have not done it sooner because I was lazy... there was also the matter of flooding in Brisbane AGAIN but that is another story. Sorry about the Kurama Maths but I felt I needed it to get a point across. on to the story!

* * *

How to raise the dead!

Though his eyes were always seen as hateful in their red glow and his teeth and claws were considered unstoppable by even the most powerful of ronin, the war for freedom had inspired Kurama and unlocked a part of him that had not been seen for over a thousand years. Respect and trust.

Naruto knew it was not wise to tempt the beast as he had when he was a child, arrogantly strolling up to the ancient nine tailed fox and demanding chakra in return for continued survival was not a way to treat an ally. Through a show of determination and hard work, he had earned the fox's respect and by his all-round good nature and his willingness to always do what is right, despite the obvious drawbacks, he had earned the fox's trust. It was with respect for the fox that Naruto presented as he stood before Kurama. The fox trusted Naruto with the belief that what he was doing to be right but there had to be a balance. If you are too good, then the wicked will take advantage of you. If you are too wicked then you will lose everything anyway and live a life of hate and solitude. Some may call it a compromise on ideals but if you gave everything until there was nothing left to the first person who asked for help, then how would you help the next one? You had to make sure that YOU were taken care of so you could take care of others.

Kurama leaned out of his cage and placed his paws on the water's surface. Dipping a black steel claw into the liquid, the water shimmered and rippled. In an ever growing circle that distorted the surface, the ripples hit the pipes and walls that surrounded them and began to flow back in an increasingly intricate pattern. The reflection of the great fox blurred as the waters below him churned until his reflection was lost. Removing his black claw from the water, his red eyes met determined blue, and a serious look could be conceived as appearing on his already terrifying face.

"**There is a reaction for every action we take. Every small decision we make can change the world in ways we do not foresee as even possible. Should you strike a man down for drunkenly assaulting a woman, you may save the woman but the man could turn out to be a Feudal Lord's Heir. In saving the woman, you may start a war where thousands will die**."

The giant Kitsune's voice was deep and wise. Thousands of years had made this beast not just a merciless killer of the wicked but also a scholar in the workings of the natural world.

"**Not every decision is as profound as this. Even walking to the next town and taking a left turn when you could turn right instead can drastically change the fate of a life. Picking a flower from a garden could mean that another man will miss out on one and not have anything to present to his beloved widow's grave and show the proper respect while your girlfriend will cherish it for all of one day and wear it proudly in her hair until it is lost to the winds."**

The Kyuubi's eyes turned to the now settling waters bellow. Slowly his reflection in the cool liquid was returning, slowly but surely.

"**A butterfly may beat its wings and show off its beauty while a tornado starts 10 kilometres down the road. Just as my claw in the water's surface did not damage the water greatly, the ripples from my action made the water murky enough to block out my reflection. Every action we take or do not take can send ripples from our decision and distort the world" "**

Naruto could see great wisdom in this for he too had come to the same conclusion that small actions can have major consequences down the line. His shame in letting Sasuke go that fateful night was one of those instances.

"**However, just as we may start a ripple, the natural world has a way of bringing it back into a peaceful balance. Look upon the water. Can you now see that it is once again flatter and clearer than the finest glass? Even without my interference, the water has returned to its natural state."**

Kurama's voice dropped another octave in his already deep baritone resonance.

"**It is when we interfere to correct our mistakes that we often make them worse and stop the waters from settling on their own. Your stunt with the Jyuubi and Rinnen Tensia has cause a great tidal wave in the once peaceful waters. Though it was a selfless act with good intentions, you have greatly distorted this world by bringing back those 500,000 people. Those men and women died and should have stayed dead. I understand your feelings and I agree that the war itself threw the world into chaos with so many dead, but to bring them back has only caused more ripples in the natural order. As a Sage, you must learn to respect that it is better to let things settle on their own and it can be counterproductive to interfere**."

The Kyuubi closed his eyes for a moment and took a calming breath before opening them suddenly with a look of hostility and frustration. His nine glorious tails swayed in deadly grace. Any one of them could destroy a city but their restrain was shown as only a light breeze picked up in the underground tunnels of Naruto's inner world.

"**Now…. Tell me why you want to know how to raise the dead!?"**

Naruto knew he was in front of one hell of a tough audience and to lie to the fox would only hinder his chances of getting the answers he wanted. He only had to say one word, a simple name, and the great demon fox would know why he wanted to know how.

"Sasuke…"

Naruto's voice showed all the guilt he felt and his eyes, though determined, could not hide the pain that name brought out of him.

The demon fox sneered and his tails slammed down onto the ground causing the walls to shake.

"**His death was Not your fault! You gave him a choice. CHANGE OR DIE! Those around you had already made the choice for him but you wanted him to choose. He chose death! You did not want him to choose death but he did anyway. It was HIS hand that put the blade to his throat and it was HIS choice to end it! He is DEAD and you must ACCEPT THIS!"**

The fox was furious that Naruto would even consider bringing the Uchiha back to life after all the trouble he had caused. Not only had he damn near killed Naruto countless times but he had also joined a group with the unofficial motto of "Beat it, Bag it, Break it". This spoke of Akatsuki's ways of beating a Jinchuuriki, capturing it and taking it back to their lair to break the seal that held the beast and killing the Jinchuuriki. As far as Kurama was concerned, Naruto had already wasted enough time chasing after that arrogant piece of shit. There was only one reason why he kept going after him and that was his pink haired team mate.

"I made a promise Kurama. A promise of a lifetime. I gave my word and I will honour it."

"**What are you? A FUCKING SAMURAI!?"**

"I sometimes think that a samurai has the right idea when it comes to honour, sure they are a bit strict and up tight with all those traditions but if honour means to better one's self for the sake of others and yourself then why can't the ninja have honour as well?!"

"**YOU HAVE HONOURED IT! BY ANYONE WHO HAS SEEN YOU TRAIN AND KNOWS WHAT YOU DO, ANY OF THEM WOULD SAY THAT YOU HAVE TRADED A LIFETIME FOR YOUR PROMISE!"**

Kyuubi grit his teeth together and steadied his breathing. He could prove to the blonde that by any reasonable person's standards he had trained for a lifetime to save Sasuke. Bringing one of his tails forward he started to scratch into the wall a maths sum of Naruto's training regimen.

"**Lets say that you made 300 shadow clones a day and trained them for 8 hours every day for the past 3 years, without fail…"**

"…but I have been making over 500 and training them for 12 hours for the past 3 years?!"

"**SHUT UP! Math is hard enough as it is without your complaints. Now… 300 shadow clones training for 8 hours gives you a total of ….2, 400 hours a day."**

Kurama scratched these numbers on the wall for Naruto to see.

"**365 days in the year multiplied by 2,400 hours gives you the sum of 876,000 hours! Divide this by 24 hours in a day and you get 36,500 days of non-stop training."**

Kyuubi took time to underline this number as it was very important.

"**NOW! We divide how many days we have trained by how many days are in a year! 36,500 divided by 365 is..?"**

Naruto scratched his head and made a face as he focussed on the numbers on the wall. Math was hard but he was slowly working it out.

"100 years?"

"**BRAVO my boy! In three years you would have trained for 100 years. A ninja has a good run when he reaches 25. You my boy have trained and gone on missions, using enough effort and gathering knowledge for 4 lifetimes! However, as you said before, you trained with 500 for 12 hours a day for 3 years. By anyone's standards, you HAVE honoured your promise of a lifetime many times over..."**

Although Naruto could see the numbers in front of him and had to admit that it was mathematically true, he still felt like he was cheating himself out of this. Kurama saw the nagging resentment in the blue eyes of his young ally and decided to "give in" in a sense. Even if Naruto knew of the methods to raise the dead, he could not go through with it even if he wanted to. They were impossible for him.

With a low groan and the dread of many probing questions afterwards, Kurama went about explaining the methods he knew of to raise the dead.

"**There are five ways that I know of to bring the dead back to life…"**

Naruto was shocked that Kurama was going to actually tell him but he had a feeling that this was also going to be a way to try and discourage him.

"**You already have come into contact with four of these techniques. Edo Tensai, Rinnen Tensai, Personal Reincarnation and Jashin's Breath."**

Naruto took time to remember these techniques; the first two were easy because they had happened under a month ago. He had already used up the Rinnen Tensai so he could already cross that one off the list.

Edo Tensai was out too. Since the war, the very words had become Taboo. For a risk free Jutsu to the user, it carried some major draw backs. One of them being the need for a human sacrifice and another being a person dumb enough to awaken the dormant soul after the sacrifice. Even if Naruto took the role of human sacrifice and Sakura would awaken the technique, the risk that Sasuke could still go rouge with endless chakra and a body that suffered no permanent damage was a frightening prospect. Edo Tensai was deemed forbidden and for good reason.

"Edo and Rinnen are out. So what are the other three?"

"**Jashin's breath led to the creation of creatures like Hidan."**

Naruto felt a cold chill travel down his spine at that thought.

"**Hidan was raised from the dead by followers of Jashinism. I heard rumours of his creation from the other Biiju while we were connected in the Jyuubi. He had died at the age of 27 from a lung disease and his family turned to the occult for help. They found legend of a way to revive the dead but it required the sacrifice of 6 children and their blood to be mixed and placed into the corpse's mouth. Hidan was revived but the price was that he had to live a life of killing without end, less he too be devoured by the Heathen God."**

It did not take much thought for Naruto to cross that one off the list too.

"**Personal Reincarnation was the jutsu perform by Lady Chiyo to revive Gaara. It requires not just chakra but life force and the skill to control it. Only a Puppet master and highly skilled medic of Tsunade or Sakura's level could accomplish it. You may be better with your chakra control but even you would never be able to master such a thing. I even doubt that those two medics could do it. Only someone who has spent a lifetime of brining the inanimate to life with puppetry would know the finer details. Even with your reputation, if you start asking questions about that technique then you will be found out and stopped. Such a technique would only be taught by word of mouth if at all, never written down… Also, Sasuke was cremated as soon as Sakura left his side."**

Naruto knew that even if he could convince Sakura or Tsunade to teach him such a high level technique without them getting suspicious and even if he somehow managed to master it without killing himself in the process, that without a body to bring back, it was a hopeless endeavour. It seemed that ALL techniques for bringing back the dead were either inherently dangerous to everyone around them or just flat out impossible. It was with little hope that he asked about the last one.

"**The final method is a legend even among legends. Even I have only heard whisper of it. It was said that at the end of the world where sky meets the earth, there was a blade of a holy man that could not harm. A weapon with an edge so sharp that it would only cut away disease and death. Said to have fallen from the grip of the Shinigami and landed on the mortal planes the sword of death would only kill death and bring life back to the lost. The Sword of Rebirth.**"

Naruto was close to grinning like a fool and running off to find this mythical blade only to remember that there was often a "BUT" with these stories, Kurama did not disappoint.

"**HOWEVER… there is no proof that such a thing exists and even if you did find such a thing, you have no body to use it on."**

Naruto's shoulders slumped and he dropped to his knees. His head was hung in defeat. Kurama was right about so many things. About the Natural order of things and not messing with it. About how he could not bring Sasuke back even with all these techniques out there. It just was not feasible. He started to pull at his hair in frustration. All he wanted to do was to bring one man back. JUST ONE! He would even trade places with him if it needed to be that way! But the closest he came to an answer was a mythical sword with nothing to use it would seem his quest to make things right to Sakura-chan would not be happening.

Now, in the freedom of his inner world, Naruto felt the whole day's events crushing down on him. Everything had just gone from horrible to worse. He had lost Sasuke. He had lost Sakura. He was losing respect as rumours of his Jinchuuriki status were flying out of control and fear and hate was already starting to return to the eyes of those who had called him a hero just yesterday.

Sasuke was crazy when he left Konoha but he did have a point, that Naruto had never had everything only to have it taken away by someone dear to you. Then again, Naruto had a point too. It did not matter where the pain came from or how you were given it… pain was pain.

Yeah, it was for different reasons but it still hurt and this time with the world watching him, he had nowhere to run. Hopefully Konoha would be better. After all, there is no place like home.

Kurama leaned down and gave the young boy a nudge with his muzzle; it was the only real way he had to show his compassion besides his words. Having daggers for fingernails may have been great at protecting yourself but it meant that he could not really show compassion without risk of slicing the boy in two. And though his fur was soft, his tails could easily crush to boy to nothing. So he just lay his head near the boy so Naruto could lean on him and cry.

Kurama would not mock the sage for such a feat. This boy had shown strength a thousand times over with his resilience. Kurama had been there every day and walked every mile with this boy. He had seen his life through his eyes and walked his world in his shoes. He actually felt some shame at being so hard on the boy and constantly trying to knock him down but constantly being under pressure was how you became strong. Naruto never cracked under pressure, life made him a diamond. Flawed and not too bright at times, but still a diamond. Kurama was always there to watch over him now. He was Naruto's first friend after all.

NxS

* * *

Naruto awoke from his slumber the next morning with a groan. Standing up and stretching his back, he heard the distinct clunks as his spine moved back into alignment. Sleeping in a hunched position on the floor was not a wise idea and if Sakura caught him sleeping on the floor when he had a perfectly fine bed in the corner of his tent, then she would kill him. A remorseful feeling swept over the young sage as realization that Sakura probably didn't need such a reason to attack him now. Sasuke's death was only yesterday and he highly doubted that such wounds to their friendship would heal overnight.

Fighting the urge to just lie down and hide from the world, Naruto braced himself for the worse that this day could throw at him and began to pack up the belongings in his tent into storage scrolls. As he paused for moment to think about how to best take the tent down, a small smile crossed his face. He had an idea. It might prove useless in the long run but he would never know until exhausted all his resources. The fox said that there were only five methods to raise the dead that he KNEW of. Granted the fox was thousands of years old and knew just about everything about the natural world but that did not mean he could not make a search for undiscovered himself.

He summoned a shadow clone and proceeded to give it his orders.

"I want you to go on a quest and try to find the source of the legend that is the Sword of Rebirth. It may prove to be nothing but a legend and useless to us anyway but I still think that we could find some way it will be helpful to our goal. Also, find out everything that there is to know about the afterlife, the occult, heaven and hell and the spiritual world. Use whatever methods you deem necessary but do not let yourself be discovered. This is to be highly classified and no one, not even our friends can know what we are looking for."

The Naruto Clone nodded with a knowing smirk on his face. This would be another long adventure into the unknown corners of the world. New dangers and discoveries would be made. He would have to use every intelligence gathering trick that his old spy master had instilled into him. This was going to be fun. The real Naruto would have wanted to come too but in order to keep his side quest a mystery to his friends; he had to stay with them in Konoha.

With a wave of his hand, the clone disappeared in a flash of light to reappear a few miles outside the camp in dense forest. Naruto still had a few secrets about his abilities from his friends. Not because he wanted to be secretive but because he actually did put some effort into being the number one ninja at surprising people. He was sure that his use of the Hiraishin would be another one to add to the tally.

NxS

* * *

The Naruto clone then began to run to the northern mountain top where he stopped and surveyed his surroundings. The world was a big place and it would take over a thousand years for one man to search it all. Placing his fingers in the familiar pattern for the Kage Bunshin Technique, the clone summoned seven more duplicates.

"The Boss has sent us out on a highly covert assignment to locate and record information on the afterlife. We are going to split up and go our separate ways in order to cover as much ground as quickly as possible by going in the eight directions of the compass. North, North-East, East, South-East, South, South-West, West, North-West. When you come to a fork in the road you are going to split and take BOTH paths!

When you pass a monastery or library you are to make a clone and leave him there to gather the information while you continue in your designated direction! When you come to a town you are to split into eight again scatter to the original directions I have sent you on!

There is not to be one rock, tree, leaf, log or grain of sand that you have not looked under! You are to disguise yourselves and talk to every person in every town! We will find every Legend, Folklore, Rumour and Wives tale we can and track down the truth behind it! DISMISSED!"

All the clones disappeared into the shadows as they scattered across the world. They would find the truth and they would report back to their master. This time, they would not fail in brining Sasuke back.

NxS

* * *

Naruto was back in the camp and looking up to the mountain that his clones were now leaving. He was not psychically connected to all of his clones but he could sense where they were. Where he was. With a satisfactory smile, he finished packing up his tent into his bag and moved to the camp gates.

Meeting him there was Kiba and Shino and a few other of the Konoha twelve. All of them looked anxious to get moving. Many of them had grown homesick. Naruto walked up to Choji who was fighting to open another packet of potato chips to ask what they were waiting on.

"We are waiting on the girls of course. Ino packed her whole wardrobe for this trip and I don't care how many sealing scrolls you have, that is going to take a while to pack up."

"We are also waiting on the Hokage. I think she is stalling so she doesn't have to go back to paper work so quickly. Little does she realize that the longer we wait here, the more the paper will stack up while we are gone." Shikamaru drawled out.

Shikamaru was leaning against the great earth wall that surrounded the camp and protected them. His eyes lazily scanning the sky for any sign of a cloud. He missed Konoha's skys dreadfully as the dryness of the air by the camp and the strong winds stunted any chance of a cloud. His eyes could be mistaken for black dots but if you looked close enough you could see a hint of brown. They shifted from the sky to the Blonde before him. Naruto was still showing no sign of grieving.

He had reported the incident to the Hokage and she had ordered him to have the blonde under constant surveillance and no one was to approach the pink haired medic on "Naruto's behalf". The incident was a matter for them to sort out themselves. That being said, the Hokage herself would handle Sakura should the need arise.

Naruto still had the ever present smile on his face that was now creeping him out a bit. In many regards, Naruto and Sai were quite similar with their smiles. Both were fake and put on for the benefit of others. Only Sai used his smile because he did not understand emotions while Naruto understood emotions very well, almost to the point of being driven by them. Naruto's smile showed his need to lie to protect himself, even from his friends.

How could you have friends when you could never show them when you were hurting? Did he not trust them? The answer to that disturbed Shikamaru quite badly.

Naruto had grown in the scorn and ridicule of everyone around him. Of course he would not trust them with something like pain. He would trust them with his life but nothing that he really cared about. And why would he? They had never really given him a reason to trust them.

As a child he was abused out in the open while they all just watched on and thought it was funny. It was human nature to laugh at another's misfortune. There was a genre of comedy called "slapstick" where it was all about someone getting hit with something and falling down. The more the person was hurt, the funnier it was. HOW FUCKED UP WAS THAT!?

Shikamaru could only put it down as childish entertainment and curse himself for ever laughing at Naruto's suffering. He wondered how many people snickered at Sakura's attempts to set a new "Naruto Toss Record". Did they ever ask if he was ok? Did they ever wonder if maybe this time he just would not get up? His thoughts were digressing.

Again looking at the blonde man as he chatted with Kiba and petted Akamaru, he wondered if he had given the blonde reason not to trust him. He had recently.

In the first stages of the war, they had chosen to hide Naruto on a distant island with Killer B to protect him from war. They thought he was not good enough to handle such a thing and needed to keep information on the war away from him in case he did something stupid. They treated Naruto like a child.

Shikamaru had also played part in the deception and could only feel that his underestimation in Naruto's abilities was a form of betrayal. It did not help when it was Naruto who came to save everyone and change the tides of the war when it was its darkest. They had come dangerously close to losing this war. That was a secret that Shikamaru would take to his grave.

Lady Tsunade arrived a few moments later with Ino and Sakura in tow. She stopped by Naruto and gave him a motherly smile while placing a hand on his shoulder. It would not be long before she would be reaching up to do this. Naruto was already showing signs of another growth spurt.

As the two Blonde haired Shinobi exchanged glances, a silent message was sent from one to the other. A message of caring and understanding. Of comfort and friendship. For a moment, Naruto's smile was real and he knew that he was not alone in this world. He still had his Grandma Tsunade.

Leaving the young sage's side, Tsunade gave the order to move out. It would take a week but they were headed home.

* * *

Authors Note: Again it is yet another chapter where not really much has happened BUT I AM TRYING! I need to have the right background story for the events to take place. Soon my preciouses... sooooooooon

sorry... late night and too much coffee. not a good mix

Anyway! reveiw as you will because I love reading them and I have to say that some of your advice I have taken and modified where the story was originally going!

Special thanks to the following people!

The Keeper of Worlds

Zatheko

kyuubifan1000

NeoJubiSannin1870

Tahkz01

Gold Testament

ProgressiveNS Fan

Love the reviews and have taken all comments into careful consideration.

ParadoxPhilosopher


	6. A New Hokage

G'day guys! ParadoxPhilosopher here with the next chapter hot off the presses!. Lots of stuff happens in this one but you will have to read to find out what. Love the reviews and I have tried to answer a few questions that were asked in the chapter. ENJOY!

* * *

A New Hokage

The rain was pelting down and hammering on the tin roof of the apartment. Crashes of thunder scarred the sky as winds blew in from the west. The storm had hit suddenly but had not let up for the past few days.

Candles lit the room with a warm glow but not even the open flame's light could keep all the darkness at bay. An assortment of pots and pans were scattered amongst the scrolls and parchment as they collected the trickles of water that leaked through the roof. The power was out still and the rooms carried a bitter draught but it was home. Home was not where the heart is, rather, it was the shithole you slept in. Of all the places that could have been flattened by Pain's invasion, why did this building have to survive?

Naruto had been back for three days and had not left the apartment in that time. Reports were already coming in from his clone army of data retrievers. He had to create scrolls with a special seal that was linked to his mind so that all the information was stored on the scroll and his brain would not be boggled by the constant flow of information. Though the information was flowing through his mind and being catalogued into the appropriate files, he could not keep the information for long or have the time to analyse it in great detail. It was just transferred to the correct scroll for reading later. If he tried to keep it all in his mind then there was a chance he would forget something or fry his brain with too much data.

His week-long trip home had taught him that even with the massive amounts of space available in his mind due to his lack of education, he could not remember everything. He lagged behind the rest of the group with the excuse of guarding the rear. The truth was that he was tired from the shadow clones roaming the country side. Having a million shadow clones was no sweat off his back to accomplish, but it meant that he could not do anything too strenuous as a side effect.

Also he wanted space. The death of Sasuke was weighing heavily on his mind and even Sakura's reaction to him in the tent. She had cried so hard for their fallen comrade and even went so far as to gather some of his ashes and place them in a small jar. It was common practice for missing nin to be burned where they fell, less their secrets from examining the body fall into enemy hands. The Sharingan had already caused enough trouble and it was actually Kakashi's decision to not salvage them from Sasuke's skull. Kakashi was the last Sharingan and there would never be another. The Sharingan would fall into legend as a cursed technique from a cursed clan.

The trip back had been a quiet one. No attacks and no real conversation on Naruto's part. He had just kept quiet and every now and then, caught a glimpse of Sakura's back. He would not approach her. She had made her views on him clear. It was still too soon to talk about Sasuke and if he told her what he was doing then he was sure she would get her hopes up, only for him to have to let her down again. There was no proof in anything that he was searching. Only a vain hope that something might come up. That somehow there was a way to save Sasuke. The Kyuubi was really pissed when he found out what all the shadow clones were for but knew that he could not sway Naruto's mind. It was one of the things he had come to respect about the boy, even though it infuriated him just the same.

Now Naruto sat in his apartment in the darkness as he quietly meditated on the data he was receiving. There were many things about the world he did not know and to put the shadow clone to such use was beyond even his wildest dreams. His concentration was disturbed by a loud knock on his door. Naruto opened his eyes to look at the door and ponder who would be coming to visit him at this hour. It was one in the morning and even though he was up, he at least wanted other people to think he was sleeping. Just because he could live off natural chakra and go without food, water or sleep indefinitely did not mean he did not want to be respected for having a time of rest.

He created a new clone to take over the task of sorting the data stream while he would answer the door. The rain was coming down in torrents and the wind almost caught the door to blow it open. Standing out in the rain was Shikamaru in a cloak. Despite being waterproof, the cloak offered no protection from the wind as it brought the rain up under the hood and into the young Nara's face. He looked cold, wet and miserable.

"The Hokage wants to see us. She said she would rather you heard it from her rather than through the grapevine. Grab your gear and meet me at the tower office"

With his message stated, Shikamaru dissolved into the shadows and disappeared. Naruto had a bad feeling about what this was all about. The old lady would only call him in like this if it was news he would not take so well. Had they discovered his little side quest? Concern donned his face as he placed on his cloak and headed for the door. As he left his apartment, he noticed that the rooms either side of his had been vacated. The rates had not gone up and only someone truly desperate would move out in this kind of weather. He hoped that his neighbours were ok. They were nice people who had come to know him over the past year. With a grim look on his face, Naruto faced the storm on his way to the Hokage office.

NxS

* * *

Naruto was dripping water into the ever growing puddle at his feet. Cloaked or not, his ten minute dash to the tower had soaked him to the bone. His hair was drooped down his face and almost covered his eyes. As water dripped from his chin, he stood respectfully at attention to the woman in front of him. Her desk was much like his at home, covered in scrolls and papers, the only difference being the few bottles of sake that adorned the edge to her left.

Shikamaru was waiting outside in the wing to the office. His face was cast in shadow as if he was trying to hide from the blonde. Naruto had wondered what had been so bad that could make Shikamaru down like that. As far as he knew, no one had died. His dad was alive thanks to the Rinnen Tensie. Had something else gone wrong? It was at this point that Lady Tsunade spoke up to answer the questions that were filling the boys head.

"Naruto…"

Her voice had authority and power at times of great need but this was not the voice of a warrior but more the voice of a mother. She had not sounded like this since she had told him Jiraiya was dead.

"…what is a Kage?"

Naruto was suspicious but gave her the textbook answer that was taught to him by the Third.

"A Kage is the strongest ninja in the hidden village and best suited to defend the village as its last line of defence. A fail safe for the protection all those living in village and high general for war time actions. A Kage's job is to protect the people and the people's best interests even at the risk of his or her own life."

Tsunade nodded. She had no doubt that Naruto would have known this. It was Naruto's dream of being Hokage, it was with dread that she now had to crush that dream.

"And what is a Hokage to do during peace time? With no threats from any of the great villages and no real enemies to fight, what is a Highest Rank General to do?"

Naruto had to think about this. Never in the history of the great nations had there ever been a treaty of peace and neutrality between all of them. Yes, there were alliances before but these were still of a military nature, done between generals to grant power between allies against a common enemy. What was a soldier to do when there was no one left to fight? Retire? To what though? Some clans like the Yamanaka and Akimichi had set up businesses for trade. Was that the answer?

"To oversee trade agreements of natural goods between the villages?"

Tsunade smiled sadly, the boy was always smarter than he had let on. Had he been given the chance, she was sure he could have mastered the finer arts of trade and negotiations. It was the council that had decided who was to be the next leader in the era of peace.

"Very good Naruto. That is exactly what the NEW Hokages will be doing. The council has decreed that a Hokage is no longer to be a war time General but rather a peace time leader who has the mind to understand economics and trade as a PRIMARY skill and military prowess as a SECONDARY skill. No longer is the Hokage the strongest fighter but rather the best suited for negotiations under peaceful terms for trade that will benefit the village. We are no longer at war with anyone thanks to you but because of that…. You will not become Hokage."

Naruto felt his world begin to fall apart around him. Things just seemed to be getting worse for him. His dream job was no longer his to claim. Many of the ninja that knew him would gladly have accepted him as Hokage and he was also sure that if it fell to a vote, he would win hands down. But it was not decided by a vote of his peers. The Hokage was now a business CEO or Mayor rather than a protector of the people. Naruto could understand how he did not get the job. He had brought peace, but that did not mean he was the peace time leader. It was a major blow.

"Who is to be the new Hokage?"

Tsunade's eyes finally met with the young Sage's for the first time that night and she gasped at the fractured look that was held behind those cool blue irises. His face was accepting of these terms for a new leader but his eyes told a different story. Tsunade could only justify having done this to him by thinking that it was better it was her to tell him than some other person. Rumours of the Jinchuuriki were already reaching her desk. She did not need to bring up that these rumours were also partly responsible for the council's decision. Fear was a dangerous fire, a small spark could escalate into a raging inferno quickly and even if you put out the main blaze, embers could last for a long time.

"Shikamaru has already accepted his position. His tactical mind and ability to see through countless scenarios quickly without error is best suited for the job. He can handle the paper work and fine details needed for the job. I am sorry Naruto."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. Shikamaru was a good man and a close friend. Naruto could trust him with the title Hokage and know that he would serve Konoha well. It was now starting to fall into place that that was the reason why the Nara was depressed. He was concerned for Naruto and their friendship. Naruto was flattered but felt it was not needed. Even and idiot like himself could understand the job was no longer for him. The aching in his heart did not seem to dampen down by this logic though. Forcing a smile to his face, he laughed.

"Oi! Shikamaru! Get your lazy ass in here so I can congratulate you already!"

Shikamaru poked his head in the door with a look of worry. This was not how he expected Naruto to react.

"You mean you're not pissed at me for stealing your dream job?"

Naruto placed his hand on the Nara's shoulder and gave a reaffirming squeeze.

"What? And suffer all that paperwork myself? No way! You can have the job! I never really had the brains for trade anyway. Just remember to keep Konoha safe or else I will kick your ass!"

With very little doubt in his mind that Naruto would carry out on such a threat if he screwed up, Shikamaru let a small smile grace his face and nodded. He was not sure if Naruto was as happy as he seemed but he would gladly take the blessing from Naruto.

"I will make Konoha prosperous and rich and with you by my side, I know WE can keep her safe."

Naruto let his smile slip to a genuine one as those words touched him. He would not lie to himself. He would have loved the chance to at least try the whole "trade overlord" route but knowing that Shikamaru would keep him in the loop on everything with Konoha's security was enough to comfort him.

"There is one thing I would like from you though, _Hokage-sama._"

The words sounded wrong to him but Shikamaru felt that this was something he would have to get used to.

"What do you need Naruto?"

"I was hoping that could allow me to become to official seal master of Konoha. And in doing so, grant me access to the scrolls of my father and Ero-sennin. I believe that I will need to know how to transfer the Kyuubi from myself to the next host when the time comes. This will not be for a great many years but I feel it is my duty as Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune to make sure that it is done correctly. Will you grant me this request?"

Shikamaru was confused again. Only Naruto had the power to put his mind in such a jar. Why would He want to be the next seal master? In comparison to most official jobs, it was really boring. A lot of scrolls and writing, documentation and incantations. Maybe Naruto just wanted to follow in his mentor's footsteps. It seemed harmless enough and by all rights, Naruto was entitled to his father's and his mentor's belongings. It was a strange choice for him, but not a bad one as far as he could see. With a quick glance at Tsunade to be sure his decision was approved, she gave a small nod.

"Very well Naruto. You are hereby appointed as Konoha's Seal Master. You may go down to the catacombs to retrieve your inherited belongings."

With a smile on his face, Naruto said his "thank you"s and a final congratulation before heading to the storage facilities underneath the Hokage tower.

As soon as he was gone, Tsunade turned to Shikamaru with curiosity.

"Do you believe any of that?"

Shikamaru reached over for one of her sake bottles and took a swig, a grim look on his face.

"Not a single word."

NxS

* * *

Naruto was making his way back home with the scrolls of his Father and Mentor tucked safely under his arm. Luck seemed to be shining on him as the rain had just about stopped for his trip back home. This was fortunate as some of the scrolls seemed to be close to a hundred years old. His Father seemed to be quite the collector of information. Naruto smiled to himself at the thought that maybe he was like the man in more ways than just his looks.

As he headed up the stairs to the third floor, Naruto started to notice that a great many of his neighbours appeared to have moved out. Doors were left open and rooms were hauntingly empty. He had not seen things this bad for years. Only when people feared him as a monster in his childhood, had he caused a few people to leave. This was a new level of mass desertion that he had never witnessed before.

He had a feeling of dread as to what this might have been about but chose to be "ignorant" to the situation. The glares of villagers were starting to come back with a vengeance and he had only been back three days. News of his exploits in the war and his power in battle were now legendary but with the words that Sakura carelessly thrown at him had turned legend into infamy. He could not stay ignorant to such things forever.

As he approached his door to find it just on its hinges and the words "DEMON!" and "MONSTER!" painted in red across the wall and door, he knew that this was where he could not play dumb any longer. It was only the barrier seal that he had placed on his apartment that kept them from getting in and destroying his research.

Reaching up to touch the paint, he found it to still be wet. Not surprising really with the damp weather. For a brief moment he considered using his sage techniques to track down the perpetrators but remembered from his younger days that screaming at villagers for the way they treated him would only cause more trouble. If they feared him as a child without having accomplished anything, how much would they fear and hate him now that he was a lethal warrior hardened by war? Although running down to the fools who were taunting him and beating the crap out of them or even just shouting at them was tempting, he did not want to be seen as vengeful or as a loose cannon. Those days were long gone. Naruto was much calmer now. Older and wiser.

Just because he was wiser did not mean that the old sting from those words did not remain. All those years of working his hands to the bone and facing death a thousand ways for the protection of these people, just for it to mean nothing in the end was not a comforting thought. It was cold. It was just cruel. All his life he had fought the hand he was dealt in order to make something better for himself and just try and get a shred of respect. He thought he had respect from his friends but what his team mate had said, even though she was stressed and emotionally ruined, had opened his eyes that maybe deep down his friends were not his friends after all. Sakura was the closest to him and he knew her the best out of all. How could she say such things? And if she could say them, then what did everyone else think? Those who he was friends with but not as close?

Entering through the broken door, he kicked it shut behind him and placed the scrolls on the table. He would deal with the paint on the door tomorrow. Right now he had new information that could prove insightful to his task at hand. He would deal with the problem of Sasuke first and his own problems second… just like he always did.

NxS

* * *

Sakura was worried. It had now been roughly three weeks since they had returned to Konoha and she had not seen or heard a whisper from her

Sage friend. She had heard from Ino about his reaction to Shikamaru being the new breed of Hokage and how Naruto had appeared content with the decision. For some reason her gut was telling her that something was wrong with this picture. Naruto's dream was always to be the Hokage so that people would respect him. For him to accept the position of Seal Master instead without complaint just didn't sit right. She would have been over to his apartment first thing the next morning had she not heard that he was sitting in his favourite ramen stand, chowing down, the very next morning and proclaiming his new position with his usual pride.

In fact, Naruto seemed to be everywhere! People would see him at the Laundromat, meditating in the park, eating at fancy restaurants and even hanging around the late night bars and partying away until the early hours of the morning. He seemed completely fine.

The odd thing that she found about all of these sightings however was that he was never around where she was. She had tried a few times to catch him at the places he was said to frequent, even going so far as to spend four days straight just hanging around Ichiraku Ramen in a tent by the stand but it was always where she was that never showed his face. Was he avoiding her?

She could understand that she had hurt his feelings when Sasuke died but Naruto seemed so understanding and forgiving to her that same afternoon that she was sure it was a non-issue. Part of her was annoyed that she was at home grieving the death of their team mate while he was out and about like nothing had happened. She felt she had the right to go over and ask him what was up with his happy go lucky attitude in such a sad time but Lady Tsunade had taken her aside a week ago and told her to stay the hell away from Naruto unless she had realized the full gravity of the event and was to go up to him on her knees and BEG him for forgiveness. Sakura knew her words were harsh but didn't think that they were THAT bad. She even tried to talk to Ino about the event but Ino would just get mad and storm out.

Sakura was fed up and was going to talk to Naruto, Tsunade be damned. But she needed to find him first. Leaving her parents' house, she headed out into the street. It was a sunny day and much better than that week of storms they had the first week back. Ino actually showed her superstitious side in claiming that the storms were a bad omen. Tsunade was deathly quiet after she had made that comment but Sakura just shrugged it off. They had storms every now and then. This one was bad but hardly anything to cry wolf over.

Suddenly Sakura caught a glimpse of orange and blonde by Ichiraku's and she made a mad dash to stand. She would not let this chance pass her by.

Entering the stand, she saw the young sage guzzling down ramen broth like no tomorrow. To see him doing something so normal made her feel at ease. That ease was quickly replaced with dread when she felt the killer intent and piercing eyes of the Hyuuga heiress on her soul.

Hinata had been sitting next to Naruto and enjoying a light heart chat about ramen recipes when Sakura came bustling in. Hinata had heard from Neji about what Sakura did and was less than impressed with the pink haired medic right now. She was a nanometre away from striking the heartless banshee down with a not so gentle fist when Neji told her that it was not in her best interests if she wanted to remain friends with Naruto. For better or for worse, she was Naruto's team mate and one of his precious people. Naruto was always very defensive of his Nakama and would defend them to the death, even from other precious people to him. But just because she would not strike this woman dead for what she had said to him, did not mean that she could not mentally try to ignite this bitch on fire with a glare of hatred and malice.

Sakura could barely breathe with the white fury of Hyuuga eyes on her. She knew that Hinata would be tough to win over again but this was borderline ridiculous. Hesitantly, she made her way to the stool on the other side of Naruto, being sure to make a wide berth from Hinata.

Sitting down next to him, she cleared her throat to get his attention and was rewarded with a bright smile.

"Sakura-chan! Great to see you! I haven't seen you in ages. How have you been?"

"Oh I have been fine Naruto. Just keeping myself busy at the hospital. I have been trying to catch up with you for a while now. It is like you dropped off the face of Fire Country for a while."

Hinata could only smile sweetly as she thought of reasons why Sakura had such a hard time finding the man before them. The truth was that she was with him most of the time and he seemed to have lost all interest in the pink haired medic. Though things between them were strictly platonic for now, she was slowly making her move to claim the man of her dreams.

"Oh I have been very busy lately with my new job as Konoha's Number One Official Seal MASTER!" Naruto exclaimed this triumphantly whilst raising his chopstick in the air.

"He has also been having fun with me." Hinata added.

Sakura felt a twinge in her stomach at the way Hinata told her this. Hinata was making her claim here and now and that, for some reason, disturbed Sakura. The way Hinata's eyes traversed the young blonde was almost like she owned everything she saw. As if he was a piece of meat to her.

Sakura was hoping that Naruto was not falling for this sweet girl routine.

"So… does that mean that you two are dating, Naruto?" Sakura probed.

Naruto stopped dead and closed his eyes. His breathing slowed as a dark aura surrounded him. An air of depression overcame him as he stirred his noodles slowly.

"Why would you be interested in something silly like that Sakura-chan?" A sad smile adorned his face and his voice was low and hollow.

She had never seen him get this depressed so quickly over such a simple question. What was going on in his mind right now?

"I..It was just the way that Hinata said it… made it sound like you two were an item."

"No, we are not dating. I am not really looking for a relationship with anyone right now. I am far too busy with my work to get involved with someone."

Naruto suddenly perked up when Kiba also entered the stand. Kiba was still trailing the man under Shikamaru's orders along with Neji, Sai and Shino. He had to make it look like he bumped into him by accident or that he was here to tell him something interesting to keep the blonde's suspicions down. He was in fact part of a round the clock surveillance by these five men to make sure Naruto was ok. By all accounts he seemed fine, which was how they knew he wasn't. The real Naruto would have screamed and gone berserk at losing his dream job of Hokage.

Kiba waltzed into Ichiraku and walked straight up to Naruto. He wanted to ask him how he was doing but knew that he would get nowhere with Sakura and Hinata by his side. They had to go.

"Hey Naruto! You gotta check this out! I taught Akamaru this awesome new trick!"

Naruto quickly jumped to his feet with a smile on his face. Depressed or not, he loved the tricks this dog could do. Kiba and Naruto quickly left the stand to allow the massive dog the space required to perform his new trick. Being a ninja hound, the trick could be anything. Kiba was even working on teaching the dog sign language at one time!

* * *

Hinata took this moment to nab Sakura by her collar and pull her face to face with her. Snarling with all the hate she could muster, she had a few words to say to the woman.

"You really have some nerve to show your face here. Especially after what you did to him!"

Sakura was about as close to squirming in the woman's vicious grip as you could get while trying to keep your cool. It seemed these days that everyone was having a go at her for what happened a few weeks ago.

"I know… But I just wanted to make sure he was ok. I didn't mean to hurt his feelings that day but I was really stressed out! I had just watch Naruto kill Sasuke and I was hurting. I really didn't mean-"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as Hinata all but threw her into the wall and pinned her there.

"You know, they always said that Naruto was the clueless one when it came to the feelings of the opposite sex... but really, It was you." Hinata let out a small mirthless chuckle.

"HURT HIS FEELINGS?!" She repeated, hated lacing off every word.

"NARUTO KILL SASUKE!?" Hinata was now visibly shaking with rage and all she wanted to do was snap this bitch's neck.

"YOU DESTROYED HIM! He saved you from Orochimaru's snake in the forest of death and you forgot about it. HE saved you from Gaara and the Ichibi and you called him a LIAR! He made a promise of a lifetime to you and left us to train with Jiraiya FOR YOU! HE came back and gave himself over to the Kyuubi during the battle of Pein to save all of us and all you ever did was punch him, hug him and say "thank you". HE GOES TO WAR AND SAVES THE FREAKING WORLD AND SACRIFICES A LIFE AS A GOD TO BRING THOUSANDS BACK TO LIFE AND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS _**YOUR SASUKE-KUN!?**_ ….you have no idea what kind of pain he has gone through just for you…"

Sakura was feeling about 3 feet tall right about now. What Naruto had done for them all was incredible but all of it had started with her.

"And YOU have the gall to call him a **FUCKING MONSTER AND A DEMON!?**"

Sakura wanted to crawl into a hole right about now. Hinata's voice dropped down to a whisper.

"Yeah… I heard what you said to him you bitch. I know all about you telling him to go to Hell. How could you treat him like the shit you scrape off your shoes after everything he has done for you? You are just damn lucky that he did not try to "make his Sakura-chan happy" and fulfil your request. SASUKE KILLED HIMSELF! Naruto tried to SAVE HIM for YOU!"

Sakura felt the painful lump at the back of her throat, like she was trying to swallow and apple whole. Her eyes were stinging as tears were close to breaking free. Her head was hung low and her hair drooped down the sides of her face.

"You didn't just hurt his feelings. You destroyed him. I doubt he will ever look at another woman again... Have you not seen the glares he is getting since you said those words?"

Sakura looked up to Hinata's face. She did not know that Naruto was being treated like he was in his Gennin days. Much of what happened back in those times was kept from her but she could still see the glares the boy received. Back then she thought nothing of it and only directed her attentions towards Sasuke.

Hinata reached into her kunai holster on her leg and extracted a blade before holding it between her fingers to enhance a Jyuken strike. Hinata was not thinking as she drew her fingers back to drive the blade into Sakura's heart and stop it in a single blow.

"I don't care anymore what the others might think of me for doing this but you are lower than trash for what you did to him and as his friend, I will stop you from hurting him ever again!"

"**THAT IS ENOUGH!"**

A great wave of energy washed over them and both women turned to Naruto standing behind Hinata and holding her wrist in an iron lock. Both women were trembling at the power that the man was emitting. Hinata let go of the Kunai in her grip and Naruto caught it with his foot, kicking it into to wall at the other side of the ramen stand. The blade embedded deep in the oak wall.

Naruto's grip on Hinata's wrist was growing painful as he spoke to her in a calm yet frightening tone of voice.

"Hinata… I understand you want to protect me …but if you ever threaten Sakura-chan like this again, I will never speak to you again. Sakura made a mistake. She was careless with her words that day but that is no reason to take such drastic measures as this."

Naruto let go of her wrist and she cradled it in her left hand. Hinata was embarrassed that Naruto had caught her doing such a thing but angry too. She had a point to make and not even Naruto was going stop her from saying her piece.

"But she said such horrible things to you! She USED you! HOW CAN YOU DEFEND SOMEONE LIKE HER!?"

Sakura had slumped to the floor in tears. She was so close to death and she was willing to accept it. But once again, like a knight in shining armour, Naruto had shown up in the last minute to save her. Hinata was right. Why did he always defend her?

Naruto moved to check on Sakura.

"I defend her… because she is my friend. Just the same way I defend you, after everything you did to me, because you are my friend as well."

Hinata had stopped dead in her tracks. Her lip trembled and a tear ran down her cheek. How could she have forgotten her own crimes against this man? It was so long ago, back when they were just seven years old, but he had forgiven her and defended her just like he was doing to Sakura. Some might say that her crime was worse than Sakura's because she had only cursed at him. Hinata's crime was much darker and was part of the reason he had denied her confession of love at the battle of Pein.

Hinata could not stand to be in front of them right now. The shame of their past was consuming her and breaking her down. She quickly turned to leave.

"I am so sorry Naruto-kun." She whispered before fleeing.

Naruto shook his head. He had not wanted to bring up such dark memories. They were just kids at the time and he had forgiven Hinata a long time ago. He did not want any of his friends to cry or be sad over him. He was the one to be strong for them so they could be happy. That was the plan at least.

Helping Sakura up, He guided her out of the shack and proceeded to walk her home.

* * *

AUTHORS NOTES: I actually like this chapter. I feel I have done well and said what I wanted to. Ok... BEFORE I get the hatemail ...(not that I actually have recieved any so far.. touch wood..) ..for how Hinata is portrayed here I will inform you that I am not a Hinata Hater. She is nice and all and for a while I was a NaruHina fan. This is a NARUSAKU story though. I have to make a reason why he does not go with Hinata when it is such a blatantly better alternative for him in this story. Sakura was a bitch... but Hinata also has a dark secret. CLIFF HANGER! BOOOM SHAKALAKA!

-composes self-

He-hem...Please reveiw if you feel so inclined to do so and thankyou very much for your time thus far. Here is a cookie for my American followers and a BISCUIT for everyone else. haha. words are fun.

See ya later mates!


	7. A Step In The Right Direction (fix)

Hey there! ParadoxPhilosopher here with the next instalment of THAB. lots of stuff happening in this chapter as always and I would like to point out that I plan on only one more chapter after this before THE BIG THING happens. Many of you might have already guessed what that is but for those who haven't I ask that you keep it quiet as to not ruin things for others. The big thing is actually what the story is about but I have a horrible time with rambling and even when I look back at the chapter I just typed... I find it hard to cut anything out because I feel that it is all crucial. everything that has happened is greatly important as it helps to set the scene and know why things are happening. I was always of the belief that a great story is not about the who, what, when or where... BUT WHY! why did this happen and why did he choose this action? THAT is how I right the story.

* * *

A step in the right direction.

Sakura was sitting in her living room. Yesterday's attempt at talking with Naruto had gone to hell. Hinata had really put her in her place and was dreadfully close to killing her. She would have stood up for herself and taken Hinata down… had Hinata been wrong on any account. Sakura had a very restless night as her own mind started to attack her. She had not really had much sleep that night and many of her own actions were now starting to haunt her. The way Naruto defended her; ALWAYS defended her had not bothered her until now. Why did he defend her?

A normal person would have told her to shove it and left by now. Naruto never was normal but there had to be a limit to how much a man could take. Hinata's question of hearing rumours and seeing glares had really opened her eyes. There were things that were just screaming in her face that she just didn't register, maybe it was because she did not want to register them. Being ignorant to the world was just so much easier than admitting that things were screwed up. You only had a problem if you admitted it.

Sakura now had to admit that she had a problem. The trip home yesterday, Naruto had not said a word to her. He was not being cold but he was being distant. It was like he had nothing left to say and for a loud mouth like him, that was a phenomenon. Sakura had caught a glance at him in this state and was starting to realize that there was more to the blonde than at first glance. She should have known this already but with the whole adventure up and through the war, she had become complacent with his unpredictability and was no longer surprised by his actions.

She knew him better than anyone else, or at least, that is what she claimed. Sakura was now coming to the conclusion that Naruto was always changing. Every day he was someone new. That was how he was unpredictable. Those who knew he was an idiot were right in thinking so at the time. Their downfall came when they would not acknowledge his ability to change. There were some who knew his as the brilliant war hero and again, _they were right at the time_, but Naruto was like water. Water changes its shape to fit the mould of whatever it is put into. It could be infinitely different depending on how many containers you put it in.

Every day was a new adventure and completely different from the last. The new day was the new container that Naruto changed to suite. Naruto had no definite shape. The moment you put a label on him and designated him to be only one thing was the moment he would change and surprise you.

Sakura was now starting to understand what Naruto was. Now, she needed to know what she was.

With that, she headed out to find Hinata.

NxS

* * *

Hinata had her cup of tea resting against her forehead. The cup was empty but the warmth from the liquid was still present in ceramic cup. That warmth was now transferring to her head and offering just a little bit of comfort to her headache. Hinata had not slept last night either. Memories from when she was just seven years old were still haunting her. Naruto had long since forgiven her but that did not mean she forgave herself so easily. To this day, she still cursed herself every morning for her part in the tragedy.

The Hyuuga Branch family were once slaves to the Main Branch. All of that was now changing thanks to Naruto's help. Naruto had been made the Seal Master of Konoha and one of his first actions was to vindicate the Branch family from their curse seal. Hinata let out a shaky breath in knowing how close Naruto was to those with the curse seal. Such shame had been brought upon her and the main branch in its use.

Placing the cup down, Hinata turned back to reading the scroll from Naruto. It was detailed instructions on how to remove the curse seal. She was relieved that he had found a simple way to remove it and was already ordering its removal throughout the clan. Never again would such a method be used to maintain order. The Hyuugas were to be reformed and she was going to make sure that the dark days that haunted her stayed in the past.

It was at this moment that a servant knocked gently on the door to the library to make their presence known.

"Lady Hinata, There is a woman requesting to speak with you. She says she needs your help."

Hinata smiled kindly. Naruto-kun always went out of his way to help others. It was one of the many things he did that inspired her. She had taken up the idea of charity work a while back and was always willing to help others just like him. Maybe if she helped enough people she could someday forgive herself for what her family did. For what she did.

With a nod of her head, she let the servant know that it was ok to let the guest in. Her kind attitude quickly changed when she saw the dishevelled pinkette shuffle timidly into the library. It was only yesterday that she was going to kill this bitch and she still had half the mind to do it. The only problem was Naruto-kun. He was always more forgiving than he should be, but if she killed her then she thought that even he would have trouble forgiving her. So she would be civil. But that did not mean she had to be nice.

"What the hell do you want!?" She glared.

"I really screwed up badly, didn't I?"

Sakura was cautious with her words. Hinata had already shown that she was not going to take any bullshit from her. Her only option if she wanted to know the full extent of what she had done was to lay all the cards on the table and pray for mercy. Deep down, she knew she did not deserve any and from the look Hinata was giving her, she would not receive any.

"I know I really hurt him but, I need to know how badly so I can apologise."

"It will take a lot more than an apology to fix what you have done. I told you yesterday that you "destroyed" him. I was not exaggerating when I said that. You see him running around town all over the place and laughing for joy? It's all a lie." Hinata was now receding back to her morose state.

"What do you mean it is all a lie? Why would he lie to us?"

Sakura was concerned at how much she was really missing out on.

Hinata sighed as she sat back down and poured herself another cup of tea. This was going to take some time to explain. Gesturing to a chair, Sakura took the hint and sat down without complaint.

"Naruto-kun is very complicated, as I am sure you will have realized by now. He always plays a bluff to what he is really feeling. I noticed this a year ago after the Pein invasion. I kept quiet about it for a while and thought I was the only one who noticed his lie, turns out that there are a few people who know about it though, including Neji."

Hinata placed her tea down and made to pour Sakura a cup. Heartlessly stupid bitch or not, there were rules about having tea. You offer your guest a cup in civility, even if you are planning to poison it. Unfortunately for Hinata, she had no spare poison right now.

Sakura accepted the cup and sipped it timidly. She would keep her mouth shut until Hinata had finished her explanation.

"After the Pein invasion, He was celebrated as a great hero for saving the village, or what was left of it. Men would buy him drinks and he was even catching a few of the Kunoichi eyes. Everything was going great for him and he was finally getting the respect that he deserved."

Hinata smiled fondly at those few weeks where Naruto was the talk of the town. Again, her smile faltered.

"But then the truth about how he defeated Pein came to light. How he turned into the nine tailed fox to defeat him. How he became the demon everybody feared in order to protect us. How he went berserk after I was killed and gave in to the darkness."

Hinata's sad eyes came up to look at the green pools of Sakura's.

"It did not matter that he was defending us. It did not matter that he somehow regained control and defeated the last Pein by his own power. Nor did it matter that he managed to talk to Nagato into bringing those who died back to life. All that they remembered was that He had turned into the Kyuubi and had gone insane for a period of time in the fight. When word spread about these "truths"… he went straight back to square one"

Sakura remembered how almost overnight, a few weeks after the attack, the hateful eyes returned to him. How she was confused that the more those hateful eyes burned into the boy, the happier he became. She wondered at the time if he was a bit of a masochist.

"But.. He was a hero! They must have seen that! He SAVED US!"

Hinata just shook her head gently

"People are fickle Sakura-san. They will believe what they want to believe regardless of if it is so blatant a lie. As Naruto-kun's power increased, so did the fear of what he would do with that power. This world has seen too many people go power mad and kill everything in sight. Orochimaru. Obito. Madara. Sasuke. Gaara. The Akatsuki. Even Neji went off the deep end for a while during the chunnin exams. Itachi was supposedly another but even though we found out the truth later about the Uchiha massacre, the damage was still done and the fear of powerful men with tortured pasts only increased. Despite the fact that the Villagers were the cause of his tortured past, it was too hard for many to admit they were wrong about an innocent boy. Their guilt over what they had done to him led them to deny they could have performed such an evil thing. They could not admit what they had done so the only alternative was to reinforce their belief that he was the demon. Any excuse to omit themselves from blame would do. So when they heard that he had changed into the Kyuubi, they jumped at it. "

Sakura took a moment to absorb this information. Naruto was truly the strongest man alive but with that strength also came a past that would make many hate the world. How he didn't was just another thing that made the man incredible. But there was one thing that was still bothering her.

"But Hinata, You didn't answer my question. Why does he lie to us? We are his friends!"

Hinata scoffed at how easily Sakura used the word "friend". After what she did to him, Sakura had very little right to the word, but then again, neither did she. It was because she was guilty as well that she was being so patient with Sakura. Naruto had seemed to have forgiven Sakura already, so she would try too.

"We have all hurt Naruto-kun in one way or another and Naruto-kun has always shown us nothing but kindness… even when we drove him down into the dirt…"

Hinata made a pointed glare at Sakura. She was trying but she could not keep all of the contempt at bay. Contempt for this woman… and for herself.

"But why does he lie?!" Sakura was losing patience.

Hinata stood and slowly made her way to the window. It was a beautiful morning and it should have been spent discussing a more cheerful topic.

"He lies to protect us… from ourselves"

NxS

* * *

It was another late night for the new Hokage and he really would rather be at home asleep. In fact, it was now the next morning. The new trade agreements were a nightmare and a struggle to try and find a decent compromise for Konoha's part that would allow export of goods at a fair rate while still being generous enough to solidify good terms for the Alliance Parties. Peace was not something that would happen over a single night. To believe that years of distrust and hate between nations could be overcome with a single incident like the fourth war was not viable. People had long memories and some would never fully trust an ally that they had fought in the Third Great War, or in some cases, The Second. It required an open mind that was not hindered by memories of fallen friends.

Though Kakashi Hatake was certainly smart enough to handle fine diplomacy and in many regards stronger than Shikamaru, he had actually turned down the job of Hokage. He believed that this was a new world and did not need to be hindered by whatever old prejudices he may still have. Though the aging man did not bear any hate towards ninjas such as the Mist or Rock, years of distrust could not be washed away that easily. Decades of training had made it so he could not walk into a room with foreign ninja and not instinctively start planning the best methods of taking them out and escaping. So ingrained was the old ways that it would be impossible for him to maintain civility over something as simple as bread prices and exports between countries without wondering what they might be plotting.

This was not to say that trading of bread was a treacherous affair but the paranoia was always there. His first lessons to team seven were "look underneath the underneath." Shikamaru was easily the next best option. His mind was powerful and flexible enough to handle these things and his only memories of war were that of fighting beside these "enemies". He was also a good friend of Naruto and if some no name politician came in and took the job, Naruto would certainly have made a fuss. Naruto trusted Shikamaru and he would not violate that trust.

The countries were also in a process of demilitarization. With the promise of peace and understanding, Hidden Villages such as the Leaf no longer needed such a large standing army. This was not to say that a select few would not be part of a high level security force but the world was changing and many ninja who were tired of fighting and war, were now being given a chance to start a new life. Ninja skills were still for hire but in a much more practical sense such as agriculture, construction and even mining for natural minerals. So called D-rank missions were becoming better paying and in more demand as the world started an economic boom without having to invest in security so much.

Great and powerful warlords to run Hidden Villages were no longer required. It no longer mattered how many men you could kill, for such skills were redundant in the new world. Business was the new battle field. Stock prices the new intelligence and trade treaties were the new ammunition. No one needed to die in this new world and with the amount of skill that was being released into the workforce from the downsizing armies; no one would go hungry or homeless. It was still a long road ahead of them but the door was now open.

As Shikamaru leaned back into his chair for a five minute breather, he could not help but wonder how Naruto would handle all of this. Naruto was too nice for a lot of this. If he were in charge then he might redistribute the wealth of Konoha so that everyone had an equal share in everything. It was good in theory for a world of equality, but it was impractical. His life on the streets might have made him selfish but instead it made him more appreciative of what he had and sad how little others had.

Sitting forward again, he glanced at the scroll that was on his desk. It was the report from Neji on how Naruto was doing. Shikamaru was already hearing from others how he was handling his new job as a seal master. It seemed he was taking the job as a name only and not doing any work. Stories of him running around town in complete bliss and doing just about everything other than working on seals made him wonder what was really going on. Naruto was always aloof but one thing he never was, was lazy.

He reached out and picked up the scroll. The dark blue silk that backed the parchment was soft to touch but in the scroll held vital information. Just as the scroll looked unimportant, it held things that very few should actually know. Just like Naruto, the appearance of the scroll turned out to be very misleading.

NxS

* * *

The seal on the scroll broke under the intense effort that was put upon it. This could be his last hope at finding the answers he was looking for. He had a hunch that his father's scroll would be the most helpful, maybe that is why he had saved it to last. The scroll seal did not recognize his chakra but that was no surprise to him. He always knew deep down he would have to force it.

In the dark room, were hundreds of scrolls and dozens of relics from every ancient occult order that he could find. The clones had finished their scouring of the countryside and returned with a great bounty of items that might prove helpful. Many of them were interesting and some downright frightening but very few had proved to be of much use. Set aside on a shelf were the select few that held the most promise though. On that shelf was the legendary Sword of Rebirth.

It was more of a Tanto than anything else and from what he had learned from his clone, was a nightmare to get. It was hidden in a forgotten stone shrine at the top of the highest mountain in the country of Yin and Yang. Naruto had travelled so far north that he reached a land of Ice that had no sunrise or sunset. The days did not start nor end and the cold was unbearable. He later had learned that the land of Yin and Yang was so named because half the year it was constant daylight while the other half it was only night time. It was some natural phenomenon about the world being on a tilt with the sun but he didn't pay much attention to it. His conquest was the blade.

Sadly, as the clone made its way to the small stone box half buried in the ice, he found the blade to be snapped in two. Though it was unfortunate, it was not unforeseeable. A blade with the power to raise the dead was seen as a powerful relic of a possibly pagan worship. It would not take too much for someone to take the blade and use it for evil. Such things if not protected by the righteous and pure could cause great disturbance in the natural balance of life and death. Perhaps Naruto was one of the people they were trying to keep it from. Many would look at his pursuit into the occult with disgust. The Sword of Rebirth, like many other mythical relics he had found, had been broken to protect this balance.

Though powerless and worth little more than a paper weight, the blade could still be of some use to him, if he was clever.

But as Naruto read his father's scroll, a small smile came to his face. It was the first one in weeks.

"_Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, Lightning. These are the five elements and the basis of the Five Great Nations. This is the source of the powers of the world. The combination of these elements with Chakra of Light and Darkness grants us the power to control these and mould the world as we see fit. Though the Shinobi may be a God among men, there are two powers greater than these that all beings must bow before. These are the powers of life and death."_

His father's writings were scribbled as if he were traveling at the time. These may have been journal entries from his times during the war. Not much was known about his thoughts and feelings on certain things. He was portrayed as an idealist and incredibly wise. Powerful and Kind hearted but Naruto always had a feeling this was only half the story. There may have been a reason why Jiraiya never talked much about his "prize student".

"_Life is the great giver and uses its power to start the tale of many great heroes. Death is a great power as well with the ability to end life, but no matter how much these two forces clash, one does not have the ability to win over the other. These great forces only seem to cancel the other out in equilibrium of chaos. No matter how many die, life continues on. No matter how many are born, Death continues to consume."_

Though fascinating on a philosophical point of view, this was not helping Naruto. The scroll went on to explain various other theories but the constant struggle of life and death seemed to prevail in the main theme. It was only at the end that he started to get back to the practical applications that this all could be for. And it was then that Naruto realized what he was reading. This was his theory scroll on the Shiki Fujin Seal. The Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

"_I theorize that if there were a way to summon death, that one may strike a contract with it. The requirements would be to sell your soul but if no bargain were made then one may talk with death until a deal is agreed upon. There is no certainty that this could not end badly and much research is still pending but I have heard legend in an old poem of where death can be found while not on the brink of crossing to the other side."_

The poem made little sense and was archaic but it made mention of three things combined to not summon death, but to attract it. While death was in the area, perhaps there was a way for communicating with it. It was a gamble but it had to be possible. How else could it be explained that his father had an abstract summoning contract with a shinigami.

Naruto was ecstatic. This was just the break he was looking for. His father had found a way to summon death and strike a deal.

If he could decipher the cryptic message about the ingredients then he too could strike a deal. Fair exchange perhaps, but if his father's notes were anything to go on then death ALWAYS came out with the better end of the deal.

NxS

* * *

"What?"

Sakura didn't understand. This was becoming far too common occurrence for her liking. Hinata could explain it simply but she was not going to give the woman all the answers up front.

"Sakura, do you know the full extent of what you did to him? How much you affected his life?"

She still had her back to her but even without the Byakugun; she could see the nervous sweat on the woman's neck and how she was moving uncomfortably.

"Are… are we talking about his promise of a life time?"

"We can talk about that if you would prefer but I am talking about much more recent things. You using him to fulfil a silly girl's crush and not accepting that Sasuke does not like you can be fun to talk about too, though." A devilish smirk was as close to appearing on Hinata's face.

"I was stupid and should have just accepted that Sasuke was lost. I know what I did was wrong and I have tried to make up for it. But seeing Sasuke kill himself just brought it all back to me. I didn't know what I was saying. All I knew was that Sasuke had left again and that I could do nothing about it. I felt so weak. So powerless. I always take things out on Naruto even when it is not his fault… It was not his fault. I know that… I just … How can I take it back?"

Sakura was close to crying again. She honestly felt bad about what she had done but Hinata was not as merciful as Naruto. If Sakura wanted to change then she would need to know EVERYTHING.

"You can't take it back. A friend of mine once told me that people take things out on those who are closest to them. He tried to use that to justify why his friend would hit him. I always thought it was an excuse for a coward. While it is true that some people do take out their aggression on those that are close to them, it is not because they care for them. It is because the person being hit loves them and won't fight back."

"Your friend sounds really beat down. Why would he let someone do that to him?"

"Because he loves her and does not see any value in himself. When you consider his life however, no one has ever shown him that his life is of any value. He was an orphan who lived on the streets. Sold as a slave at the age of seven and left in a cage to rot for half a year before nearly starving to death and being set free. Joined a group of "friends" at the age of twelve where he met a boy he called his brother and a girl he fell in love with and a man who didn't give a shit about him either way. He almost died at the hands of his brother only for the girl he loved to scream at him for failing to rescue the boy SHE loved."

Sakura was now starting to tremble. She knew this story but did not want to hear anymore. It was almost too much.

"Please don't..." She began to beg, hoping that Hinata would not remind her of her past.

Hinata continued. Sakura had to stop living in a fantasy world of denial. She had to wake up and smell the blood stained roses.

"He then left with a man who would steal from him and use him to get with loose women while giving him the barest of training. Came back three years later only for the girl to hit him because she was too sensitive about her own appearance. First chance he gets though, he is after the missing boy and facing down an organisation of the world's most wanted criminals who all want the demon inside of him so they can take over the world. Where ever he goes, people want him dead. He has no home but the girl he loves is starting to come around"

Sakura was now visibly crying, her hands were clenched tightly over her chest and her breathing was becoming erratic.

"..stop.. PLEASE stop… Don't"

"But the boy becomes a man and defeats the evil organisation against all the odds. And the first thing he does is go and meet the other man that the woman still loves and fights him and wins. But the other man chose to kill himself rather than start over and the woman blames her "friend" for his death and calls him a MONSTER and a DEMON and wishes FOR HIS DEATH BY TELLING HIM TO GO TO HELL!"

"NO! STOP! PLEASE!" Sakura was howling in agony. Her betrayal of Naruto was too much. She could not bear it. She hated herself for her actions. Kakashi's bell test came back to her mind about not betraying a comrade. All these years she had lived by those words and yet she was the first to throw Naruto to the wolves.

Hinata kept going. Sakura needed to know everything if she was ever going to have a chance making it up to Naruto. It was painful even to her but it had to be done. Sakura had to hit rock bottom before she could start moving back up.

"And then that same man, who had won the respect of the people, was now feared and hated by the people again him for his power and is being treated like scum again… because they believe the words the woman he loved, screamed at him."

Sakura was a mess. If she had a knife then she might have killed herself right there. Such agony. Such disgrace. Such shame.

Hinata turned back to Sakura and looked at the shaking mess on the library floor. Part of her thought she deserved this and more. But the part of her that carried a similar shame wanted to cry with her.

"…And now you know… why Naruto-kun lies…"

NxS

* * *

Naruto was leaning back in his chair and eating a cup of instant ramen. He felt he deserved a reward for his hard work so far. He had already figured out two of the three ingredients for his concoction to attract a shinigami. Now that he thought about it, they were really quite obvious. The poem spoke of essence of innocence meeting the flames of the cursed und the tears of angels. It had taken him hours to figure it out and he felt quite stupid for not realising it sooner. The flames of hell were obviously Amaterasu. Essence of Innocence he believed to be the blood of a virgin.

These things did seem strange to mix but he supposed that maybe they would be come together in the natural world in war. Shinobi often start their careers at the age of twelve to thirteen so it would be no surprise that some would die as virgins. Especially if they came up against and Uchiha with a Mangekyou Sharingan. In the years before the Uchiha massacre, it may have been more common for some warriors to have it.

The question was, what were these tears of angels? If he followed the theme of a battleground, then it must be something that might normally happen on a battlefield. The scroll of his father's was clearly speaking of a guide to create the scent of war without anyone actually having to die.

Naruto sent out a clone to the old battle ground where he had fought against Madara and Obito in the last push. Of the few things he knew of Amaterasu was that it never stopped burning. There had to be some of the black flames still out there somewhere and with all of his clones that were searching the world, dispelled, he was back to his full power and it would only take a day for the clone to return home.

He also sent a clone to the hospital to pick up a vial of blood from a Gennin. All new recruits had to go through a physical and that often included a blood test. He felt bad for the Gennin who would need to have his blood drawn again but this was a necessary evil. If he made it out of this alive then he would try and track the Gennin down and treat them to a bowl of ramen.

These tears of angels though… were still a problem.

NxS

* * *

Tears stung her face as they tore their way from her eyes. Each droplet of salt water cutting a new groove down her cheeks before falling from her chin and onto the floor. Her head was clasped in her hands as she tried to hide her face. Lower than trash is what Kakashi would have called her. She was not worthy of being his friend and yet Naruto still considered her his closest companion. She did not deserve a friend like him.

Hinata bent down next to the sobbing woman to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Get up Sakura. Your tears and grief mean very little in the long run. You can cry all day if you want but it won't help Naruto-kun in the end."

Sakura tried to fight the pain of guilt and wipe her eyes but the tears just continued despite her attempts.

"What am I supposed to do? I am lower than trash. Not even worthy of being his friend. The best thing I could do is leave him alone."

Hinata reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a handkerchief. She offered it to Sakura but the woman just shook her head.

"You are right Sakura, you are not worthy of him. Not in this state at least. You are everything you say you are and more, but Naruto-kun loves you despite all of your grievances against him. You are his dearest friend and maybe the only one who can save him. You put him into this mess, now it is time for you to drag him out of it. And I will help you along the way."

The pink haired medic could only look up at the Hyuuga heiress in awe. When had Hinata overcome her timid nature and become so strong?

"Don't misunderstand me. I am _not_ doing this so that you and him can run off in love and get married to him. No matter how much you may pull your head out of your ass and clean up your act, I will never think you are good enough for that. I will however, help you restore your friendship with him. With how much he is being harassed by the villagers right now, he needs his "Sakura-chan" to comfort him. I am not talking about the bitch that destroyed him at the camp site weeks ago, nor am I talking about this guilt ridden mess before me. No, I am taking about the Sakura-chan that was there for him in his time of need during that first week after the war. The one that did not leave his side and protected and healed him in his vulnerable state. You have good in you, but you have fallen very far from what you can be."

Sakura had now calmed down enough to take part in this conversation.

"So what am I supposed to do? Go to him on my hands and knees and apologise?" There was an air of hope that it would be that simple, it had always worked in the past.

"That would be a good place to start, but I doubt that it would be enough. Sure, he would accept it and forgive you but it would just be a Band-Aid over a gaping wound. It might cover the surface and hold him together for a short while but the scar runs too deep. Words and tears are easily given out and far too cheap for this. You need to change and become the friend he deserves. Not just the one he needs. You can heal him but it will be a long and hard road before you. You have to work to fix this."

"Why? Why are you helping me?"

"Because many years ago, I too, hurt him very badly. He forgave me for what I did instantly but it was not until my confession of love to him at the Battle of Pein that I found out that the scar was still there. He trusted me as a friend but would not trust me with his heart. It is something that I must live with, I don't want to see another make the same mistake I did and leave things to heal over time."

A contrite expression came to Hinata as memories of those days came back. It was a long time before she came to the conclusion that her apology back then had done little to console the boy. They were on speaking terms immediately after but she was naive to believe that simple words had fixed it all. She had paid for it later in life. Sakura was guilty as sin but she was now in a position to do something to absolve her of it, not for her own sake but for Naruto's. It would not be a quick fix and there was no guarantee that things would ever be as they once were, but it was a step in the right direction.

* * *

Ok guys. About the reviews. Had a few angry people over some of the decisions that I made in the story and some people not liking how it is going. Some complaints over why Kakashi was not Hokage and I chose Shikamaru. Had a few people call me a Hinata hater, and a lot of people going "NO! DONT PUT SAKURA WITH HIM! SHE IS TOO MUCH OF A BITCH!"

This story is about redemption and overcoming struggles. with my writing style, I will ask that you please hold off negative judgement on how I write characters and side plots until the final page of the final chapter. I write so that things seem one way when really I am just setting you up to believe that when really it comes out another. It is a way of creating suspense. Just because a character is nasty in one chapter does not mean they are evil. I bring you back to my technique of "WHY" stories. Why are they mean? why are they nice? you will not get the answers straight away but all will be explained over time. you need to be patient.

I am also going to ask that only Constructive Criticism be added in the reveiw box.

I am sorry for doing this but I had to delete quite a few comments that were just plain insulting.

ParadoxPhilosopher.


	8. The Last Day

YO! WASSUP! ParadoxPhilospher here with the next installment of to hell and back. A tray of buiscuts and cookies to all of those patient enough to wait for it. This chapter is longer... again... but that is because I promised that this would be the last one before the ball really got rolling. Many things are revealed in this chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

The Last Day

Shikamaru was worried. He had many pieces of the puzzle but they were not coming together fast enough. He was sitting in his office chair with his hands in his "thinking position" and was still drawing up blanks. Naruto was just too unpredictable for him to figure out most of the time; however it was now when he had a feeling in his gut that something bad was coming that he needed to find an answer.

He had read the scroll from Neji twice and could see that something was up. With Naruto, the report could mean anything. Neji was the first to pick up the fact that there were multiple Narutos running around in the village. It could have been that he was doing chores for the first few days they were back but that was ruled out when it just didn't stop. Naruto was seen at the Laundromat every day. He was seen at Ichiraku's every day. He was seen at the training grounds Every Day. He was seen running around the streets EVERY DAY! And it was not just once a day but almost on an hourly routine. Everywhere he was spotted, the people there would always state how happy he was. What a bright ray of sunshine he always brought with him. Shikamaru deduced that this was overcompensation for a farce. It was a bluff to make him seen out in public and fine when really he was off doing something else. Naruto was all about misdirection.

This was only confirmed when Kiba and Sai had stopped a group of "Monster Hunters" as they called themselves, spray painting curse words on Naruto's door at his apartment building. The words were always gone the next day and Naruto's friends, who had taken it upon themselves to watch out for him, were not the ones taking the words down. It was a sure bet that it was Naruto himself who was getting rid of the graffiti. Naruto in his youth would often go quiet when such words appeared on his door and had to pay his landlord to get rid of them. Eventually he started to repaint his walls and door himself but this was always just further insult to injury.

So Naruto knew about the fear and hate that was back in Konoha. It was hard to miss really. Naruto was also showing up around town and spreading cheer. These pieces didn't fit together. There was also the fact that Naruto's apartment almost seemed deserted. The guys had tried to search Naruto's apartment but could never get the door or window to open. Neji even went so far as to use his Byakugan to look inside but something obscured his otherwise penetrating vision. If Naruto had gone somewhere then he must have put up one hell of a security seal his rooms.

But Naruto was all about misdirection. He had fooled everyone into thinking he was some idiotic Gennin. How hard would it be to convince everybody that he was not at his apartment? And with him being seen everywhere else in the village, no one would second guess it either.

Shikamaru stood up from his chair and moved to the large window of his office. From his position he could see the run down building that housed the new Seal Master. He was starting to regret giving him the title. Had he known that Naruto would use his title so quickly to cut himself off from the outside world… He might still have given it to him. Naruto had just lost his dream job of Hokage, not because he was denied as being the greatest military leader of the village but because the job had changed from one of strength and symbolism to one of peace and negotiation. Naruto would have hidden himself from the world anyway, at least with the title of Seal Master, they knew where he was and that he was safe in his apartment.

This was a known. It was the unknowns that were bothering the new Hokage. What was Naruto doing? What was he planning? How could he even survive in there for weeks without food? He would have loved to have Shino, Neji, Kiba and Sai crack the seal and drag him out but that would give away that they knew of his lies. Naruto lied to protect himself. If they took that away from him, He would feel defenceless. Any other man would have killed themselves by now. Naruto was very strong, but if you forge a metal too hard, then it becomes brittle and can break at any moment. Naruto was strong but also fragile.

Shino had his bugs try to eat some of the chakra shield on the housing complex to see if it was just a solid wall with limited power and deduced an interesting fact. It was operated from the inside and required a constant stream of chakra from the user, a very small amount but constant none the less. As long as the barrier was up, they knew Naruto was alive in there. They could not know what condition he was in, but alive was a start. Shikamaru gave express orders that the moment the barrier went down that they were to storm the building to make sure he was alright. Kiba did not like this one bit. If the barrier went down then something may have gone seriously wrong and Naruto could be dead. This was a bit drastic but his pack instincts to guard his friend was high and he did not want to risk such things. But it was Shikamaru's call.

The young Hokage stood at the window as the new dawn broke its first light over the city.

"Naruto… What are you doing in there?"

* * *

Kiba and Sai had taken the night shift to watch the apartment complex for those coming in and going out. Sai was trying to catch the dawn's beauty over the city in his artwork while Kiba was reading a Shounen Jump comic. They were not slacking off. They had wires all over the building connected to bells where they were hidden. Cameras were set up for their surveillance outpost that were cleverly disguised as a line of coke machines. It was cramped but they had all the soda they could want. Two bells went off within moments of each other. Sai turned to his screen and zoomed in on the people who were approaching.

"We have two... no, three "Monster Hunters" coming up the south hallway."

Kiba put down the comic and started to strap his weapons pouch to his leg.

"Do you want me to engage? I am seriously getting tired of these bastards."

Sai turned to the second screen and blinked in disbelief. He had not been expecting her to be here. None of them had seen her approach the building since they got back to Konoha three weeks ago. In all honesty, they were more than happy about that. This was the woman who had started all the trouble and they were just a little curious to find out if she didn't come here before because of hate or shame. This would be a moment to see where her loyalties lie.

"Prepare and get into position, but don't engage. Let's see what SHE does when she sees these Monster Hunters"

Kiba smirked. This could get interesting. Either she would defend Naruto and beat the shit out of the monster hunters or she would join them and he would have the joy of beating the shit out of her. Chivalry was not worth a damn if you were a bitch to a friend after all.

* * *

Sakura was making her way to Naruto's place. After having a long talk with Hinata the day before, she was certain that she had to act on making Naruto trust her as a friend again. It was going to be an uphill battle but she had no problems with getting down on her knees and begging at this point. Naruto might hate her but she had to try. She did not want to end up like Hinata.

Hinata had told her the grizzly details of her betrayal of Naruto and how she had thought that he was very kind to forgive her so easily. Hinata was naive at the time, but she war a seven year old who isn't. Hinata had paid her dues though and Sakura was sure that given enough time, Hinata could become very special to him. Sakura was not so naïve though, not anymore. Hinata had been brutal in bringing her out of her fantasy world and pulled no punches. It was painful and she would have gladly taken another one of Ino's slaps to the face, but it had to be done. Naruto needed her as a friend right now. And there was no better time than the present.

Sakura had no idea where Naruto would be later on today. He was everywhere in fact, just nowhere that she was. Sakura would change that. Though he may be out during the day, he had to go home to sleep. The sun was just rising and she was nearly at his door. He could not escape her. Sakura was musing on how exactly to approach Naruto and get him to spend the day with him when she turned the corner and saw them.

Three men about twenty years old were wearing blue torn jackets with "DEMON HUNTER" drawn on the back with what looked like some type of permanent marker. Ino would have called it tacky but what really stopped her in her tracks was what they were doing.

Two of the men were shaking spray cans while the other was painting words on the wall by Naruto's door. As she read the words these BASTARDS were painting, she started to seethe with anger. It was at that moment that Sakura remembered what her mother had taught her when she was young.

"_To make a friend, you have to be a friend_"

Sakura had made her decision to try and be Naruto's friend again and the best way to earn forgiveness was through actions. This would be killing two birds with one stone. She would defend Naruto and prove that she was his friend while stopping these men. The three men did not see her reaching into her pocket for her gloves but they did hear her crunching her knuckles.

One of the men turned to her and smiled before calling out.

"HEY! Haruno-sama! Come to dish out some hate on the demon? Bout time you got here! We have been following your example since we got back from the war. Heh, you sure showed that beast where he stood. I almost thought he was gonna cry!"

Sakura stopped dead. Had she really caused this?

The second man now made himself known.

"I know, right? How dare that demon only bring back to life his 'followers' and leave our friends to ROT! I was believing that he couldn't bring them back and was about to accept it but then you stood up to him and he totally backed down! He is just some mindless beast! JUST LIKE ALL JINCHUURIKI! I am with you and your example. SEND THEM ALL BACK TO HELL!"

"YEAH!" his two cohorts cried as they raised their fists.

Sakura started to smile, none too innocently, as she made her way towards the men. She bent down and picked up a can before shaking it.

Kiba was henged as a pot plant and was about ready to take down Sakura the moment she turned the can to the wall.

Sakura made a test spray into the air to see its colour. Red. That was good. Right now, with these morons, that was all she was seeing. Turning the can, she quickly sprayed it into one of the man's eyes. He cried out and clutched his hands to his face. She took the moment of panic to take out his two friends. One with a hard blow to the gut followed by a knee to his face as he keeled forward, he would have been forced backwards by the blow to his face had it not been for her elbow coming back the other direction on the back of his neck.

The second, she stomped on his foot and drove it into the floor, crushing it. As he raised his head to scream, his mouth wide open in shock, she hit him with an uppercut, driving his mouth closed and shattering his teeth. The force of the blow ripped him from the floor that he was still stuck in and sent him hurtling up into the ceiling. His legs hung limp as only the lower half of his body was visible dangling from being wedged in the ceiling.

The third man she now had pinned to the wall. She may have been a foot shorter than him but she still lifted him up by his collar.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!?" she roared. Her hands trembling with rage.

"W-w-we were j-just following your lead… you made such a public spectacle of how horrible he was. We are all actually medic-nin and we followed you into battle, we stood by you, fought by you!"

Sakura was shocked that she had such influence over people. She never thought herself anything special but clearly these men had taken her words as law. If she gave an order then they would follow it. Even if that may have been to hate a national hero.

"WE WERE JUST TAKING THE INITIATIVE AND FOLLOWING YOUR EXAMPLE! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!?"

Sakura let go of the man and let him drop to the floor. If her words were so powerful to those who hero worshipped her, then maybe she could use that to her advantage.

"I was WRONG! He is NOT a demon! He is my FRIEND! And if I so much as hear about you or anyone else talking badly about him or trying shit like this near him again…"

She motioned to the paint on the wall before a massive amount of killer intent was released from her.

"…I will hunt you all down and show you what a _real_ demon can do."

The man quickly nodded and made to check on his friends. One was comically stuck in the roof and unconscious but from the pulse he checked on his ankle, was still alive. His other friend was sprawled out on the floor but breathing. Foolishly, the medic turned to his pink haired role model and said one final piece.

"Why do you defend a monster like him anyway?"

Sakura was going to let this man walk away so he could spread her ultimatum but found her previous decision… in question. She was still pissed off at what these men were doing. His comment had brought all that back to the surface in an instant.

She grabbed the man by his jacket and started to swing him around before launching him over the balcony and into the air. The man disappeared into the horizon.

"Because he defended me…" she whispered more to herself than anyone.

For a brief moment she wondered if the man would be alright. She had just thrown him from the third story, but as she dusted her gloves off, she concluded that he was a medic and could _deal with it!_ She would not compromise on her friend's happiness. Not anymore. It was with a melancholy smile but she knew that it would take more than this to ever repay her debt to Naruto.

Kiba had been watching the whole showdown and so had Sai in the coke machines. Both had one thought in their heads.

"_DAMN! SHE IS SCARY!"_

* * *

Naruto had actually been asleep. It was the first time he had slept in weeks. He had hoped that if he slept and dreamed that the mystery of Angels Tears would reveal itself to him. Unfortunately, it hadn't. He was feeling better after having let himself finally rest. He could go for years living on nothing but natural energy but sometimes you need to slow down and do things the old fashioned way.

He was enjoying the warmth of his blanket when he heard the racket outside. He knew it was those demon hunter guys again but he was hoping they would at least allow him to sleep a little longer. He could not go out and confront them or else everyone would know he was really shacked up in here for weeks. Pulling the covers over his head, he tried for five more minutes.

His attempt at an extended snooze was broken when there was a knock at his door. Demon Hunters didn't knock. Dragging himself away from his bed, he grabbed a shirt and pulled it over his head before answering the door. It might be a massage from Shikamaru.

Though the new Hokage was a friend, Naruto was still trying to swallow that bitter pill. He could not fault Shikamaru but he was still a little less than please to have been passed over for the job. He just had to cram down all the hurt he felt deeper inside him and plaster on that God forsaken shit eating grin he always did. It was always easier to have a clone do it for him. They were fake anyway, why should their smiles be any different?

Naruto trudged to the door before opening it a fraction. He did not want the world to see what he was up to. It was not illegal for him to research the occult, more questionable. Those few people in the village who had not turned against him in the past few weeks would surely meddle in his affairs and try and stop him if they found out. Kyuubi had decided to take a nap for a month or so. He was tired after the war as well so Naruto let him. If Kurama found out about his plans too then the great fox would be angry. His plans had to be kept secret. It was the only way to fix his mistake.

To his surprise, he found the last person he wanted to see, standing in his doorway at six in the morning. He didn't want to see anyone in his doorway this early in the morning but Sakura was one of the people he least wanted to see. The last he saw of her was the day before yesterday when Hinata had tried to kill her. Hinata was one of those well-wishers who saw fit to meddle in his business. She was nice to try and defend him but he did not need to be defended. In his mind, HE was the one who screwed up. Sakura was always the one who kept him well grounded. She was the one who he could turn to should he have an idea that he thought was too crazy. Sakura, for lack of a better term, was his common sense. If she hit him or yelled at him, he had screwed up and did something stupid again. In all the years they had been friends though, she had never yelled at him like she had at the campsite.

Her presence was like a sore thumb to him. Extra sensitive to every movement he made and a painful reminder of a stupid mistake. It was a shock to him when the door flew open and the first thing she did to him was hug him.

Sakura had latched onto him and held him tighter than she had before. Then she was crying. Pouring out apologies for things that he could not understand.

Why was she sorry for the graffiti? It was the Demon Hunters who were doing it all.

Why was she sorry for calling him a monster and a demon? Everyone always told him he was. It was just a normal practice for him when he was growing up. Much like saying please, thank you and good morning. Being called these things were so daily that he was used to it. It still hurt like hell but that was just the way things were. To try and change them through force only ended in disaster and trying to win people over in time with good efforts was pointless too. Sakura proved that.

Why was she sorry for Sasuke? He was the one who had screwed up, hadn't he? It was his fault that he was dead. Naruto knew this. It had been burned in the back of his brain since that fateful day.

Naruto just hugged her on the balcony and discreetly closed the door behind him. He did not want her of all people to see what he was doing. He did not want to get her hopes up that he could bring her Sasuke-kun back.

Sakura just kept going on and on and found new things to apologise for. She was shaking from the guilt that was wracking her. Even in her time of apology, Naruto still held her close and supported her. He was always there for her. Now she would be there for him. She dried her eyes and looked up to his face. He had a confused and somewhat nervous smile. Sakura took a breath to find her voice. Her hand found his.

"I want you to spend the day with me."

"Huh?" was the intelligent response she received.

"I want you to spend the day with me. We have hardly seen each other since we got back. I found out from a friend that I have not been treating you right. I have been neglecting our friendship and I damn near destroyed it the day Sasuke killed himself. I am sorry. I want to make it up to you."

Naruto was surprised for a few reasons. One was that Sakura admitted that Sasuke had killed himself. The other was that she was concerned about their friendship. These were two things that had changed in just a day. Something must have really shaken her up.

Naruto saw it as his duty to protect her and help her any way she needed him to. It was obsessive and definitely unhealthy, but it gave his life some worth. Forever the scorn of those around him, if someone saw value in having him by their side, even if it could cost him his life for which he thought held little value anyway, then that gave him some meaning to his existence. Haku's words on living for someone else's sake had spoken strongly to him. Sasuke lived to avenge the fallen. Sakura lived to save the dying. Naruto lived because no one had managed to kill him yet. His life held no value to him. All he saw in the eyes of those around him was hate. There were the few that stood by him but Naruto would, without hesitation, throw himself out there to protect them. Why should they die when he could take their place?

This was not a life or death situation but he felt obligated to be there for her. Judging by her grip on his shirt, he had little choice but to go with her anyway. With a sigh, he gave in.

"Just let me just grab my coat."

Prying himself free from the kunoichi, he headed back in to grab his coat. This was a ruse though. He didn't need his coat. He just had to make a shadow close to keep the barrier up while he was gone. Forming the hand sign, he gave the newly formed clone a nod before grabbing his coat and heading out to be with Sakura.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura actually had a very nice time together. It was almost like the good old days before the war. Even though it had only been half a year in total since Akatsuki had shown its head to its eventual defeat, a lot had happened. New couples had come together and old ones had fallen apart. New jobs were in order and the country was now in a financial boom. The war had destroyed much and construction was going on just about everywhere. The city of Konoha was abuzz with activity.

Naruto already knew all of this from his shadow clones in the village but to see it with your own eyes was still something new. Sakura took him out to see the expansion on the hospital wings and Naruto showed her the new school that was being built. It was the first non-ninja academy that Konoha ever had. A true testament to the changing of the times. The dark days of war were over and a new era of education and development was upon them.

They ran into some friends along the way but they were all too busy stick around too long. They thought they saw Shino a few times but he always disappeared before they got close. Ino was happy to see Sakura was back to being friends with Naruto but took her aside a moment to quietly inform her friend should she ever hurt him like that again, she would not be the only one after her blood.

They found Kakashi back at training ground seven, lying on a tree branch and re-reading his favourite book. He had just returned from an assessment on boarder security that had taken him the last few weeks. Even in a time of peace, he was still somewhat paranoid that they were leaving themselves open for attack. Naruto just shrugged it off as the delusions of a war educated old man. Kakashi gave him a tap over the head for that one.

They stopped for lunch at Ichiraku's and Naruto dove into his bowl with usual vigour. Some things would never change. That gave Sakura some comfort.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with a light spar at training ground seven. Light for Naruto but Sakura was close to giving it her all. Naruto had to tap into his sage techniques from time to time but it was otherwise a relaxing day for him. Though he was only attached to the Jyuubi for little over an hour, the experience of all the knowledge and power of a million year old creature had imprinted on him slightly. He was more mellow, calmer and wiser. He would not go charging in but wait for her to strike. At times it was almost like she was a gennin Naruto fighting Kakashi at the first bell test, though Naruto was not so rude as to read a book while fighting her.

The day was coming to a close and Naruto was smiling. He had fun today. It was just like the old days before the war… before Sasuke killed himself. Just like that, the good feeling was gone and he was back to faking his smiles. Sakura didn't notice the change completely but felt him deflate slightly. Taking his hand, she smiled at him like a friend should.

"Come back to my house Naruto. I will cook you some dinner. It won't be Ramen but I am sure you will enjoy it."

Dinner at Sakura-Chan's house sounded tempting but he still had to work his plans to get Sasuke back. He needed to figure out the final piece of the puzzle but right now, he was starting to second guess if bringing back Sasuke was really what Sakura wanted. She seemed so happy right now. Happy to be here… with him. Naruto had a dilemma building in his mind. Sakura had changed so much in the last twenty-four hours and was showing him a way out. A way to have a bit of peace without having to bring the Uchiha back. Maybe he did not have to go through with it.

He had put so much effort into trying to find a way to bring Sasuke back that he had just accepted that this was what Sakura wanted. Her actions today showed a different side of the story though. A side of moving on. A side that started to heal him a bit. She did not hate him like he was thinking she did. She actually seemed to care about him. He could not make a decision like this overnight, but today had certainly made him reconsider his options.

Naruto agreed to go back with Sakura. Clouds were starting to form in the sky above them and as they were about halfway to her home, a few drops of rain began to fall. Sakura tried to pull Naruto a little bit faster to her house before the rain became too heavy but Naruto stayed his current pace. Naruto loved the rain. It was always so cleansing. Like a way of washing away the pain.

He turned his head to the sky with his eyes closed and let the water run down his face. Sakura laughed a little at this almost childish action but still tried to pull him to go faster.

When they reached her home, she went inside and grabbed them both towels. Drying off her hair, Sakura told him a little story about the rain that her mother told her as a child.

"My mother used to tell me a story when it rained. She told me that once there were two lovers, born from different ends of social standing. A prince of noble upbringing and a peasant girl. The country they lived in was being ravaged by drought and famine. The prince and the peasant girl were great friends from childhood. She was the daughter of one of the king's men. The two fell in love as children and talked of marrying each other. The King would not allow it though. He was at the brink of financial ruin and had arranged marriage between his son and a foreign princess of great wealth. On the day of their marriage though, the peasant girl died of a broken heart. The prince could not cry for her openly, so asked the angels to cry for him. That night a great storm came to the kingdom. It rained for weeks and weeks and threatened to flood the lands. Only when the prince too, was overcome by his grief and died of a broken heart did the rain stop."

"Your mother knows some really depressing stories" Naruto quipped.

Sakura gave him a bump on his arm.

"It is not depressing. The angels stopped crying because they were together again. It was beautiful."

Naruto could only smile as he realized something. It was a theory but Angel's tears being rain water was not that far of a stretch. Rain was also common on any battlefield. He now had the final piece. His clone should be back with a sealed portion of the black flames of Amaterasu soon as well. At this rate he did not know if he would use his knowledge or not though. Sakura was being nice to him and as the day progressed, he felt less and less of those fearful eyes on him. Sakura was his release from this world and if she stood by his side, then maybe, just maybe, he could find his way through the dark. Naruto felt a great weight lift off his chest. His own guilt for Sasuke was slipping and he was feeling more comfortable with that.

Sakura left him to finish drying off and find some of her father's clothes for him. Her parents had actually decided to move out of Konoha after Pein's attack. They were now residing in a little town a few Kilometres west of them. Sakura had inherited what was left of the house and had worked painstakingly to have it restored to its former glory. It certainly was not the Hyuuga mansion, but it held an air of home that Naruto had not felt in his crummy little apartment.

No leaks in the roof. No draft through the door and walls. Lighting that did not need you to jiggle the switch for it to work sometimes. It was a proper house and Naruto was on his best manners here.

He found himself being ushered into the bathroom to change and for reasons he did not understand, Sakura seemed to blush for a moment and giggle as she closed the door. Shrugging it off as just "girl stuff he would never understand", Naruto stared to change into the new clothes.

Sakura was almost giddy with happiness. The day had been great and now she was certain to notch this day up in the charts for a success in turning things around for Naruto. She had honestly not seen him like this since before the war. He was calm and content. He did not have the worry of a world at war on his shoulders. He seemed to accept that afternoon that things were going to get better.

Sakura paused for a moment as she remembered seeing him around town before today. He was fine then, but having spent the day with him today and seeing him as he was, something about those previous times now seemed wrong. Almost like something was different. Sure he smiled and laughed and fooled around all over Konoha, but maybe it was that they were at odds with each other that made him seem somewhat… fake?

That could not be it. Naruto was strong. Stronger than anyone. If he was sad those times and was just putting on an act, she would have known. Right?

Sakura was starting to cut up some vegetables for a stew that was being prepared on the stove when she heard the bathroom door open.

"Just make yourself comfortable in the lounge room! I will be there in a few minutes!" Sakura cried out cheerfully.

Naruto took a seat on the couch. The room was well lit and warm, much better than his living room. Maybe he should invest some of his hard earned into redoing his living quarters. He was a minimalist at heart though. If he did not need something then he would not get it. Living a life just above poverty really helped you get your priorities straight. Paint on the walls was a luxury so long as you had walls. A few leaks in the roof could easily be plugged when you had the time. A leaky roof was better than no roof at all. Sakura's house was a palace. Hinata and Neji's was a Kingdom. Naruto reflected on who had the best homes in Konoha. It was not hard to think of a winner by a long shot. The Uchiha's lived like Gods when they were around. There homes were always the most lavishly furnished and the artwork that decorated their homes was the most exotic.

Naruto as a child would stand on the Hokage monument and peer down into their gardens. It always astounded him that some could have so much while others, like him, could have so little. Later when he learnt that the Uchiha were the local police force, some things made sense. The Uchiha were corrupt and using their eye techniques to wipe people's minds and erase any knowledge of what was going on. Always taking bribes and often importing black market items. As the police of Konoha, they were the law and anyone caught breaking it met an iron fist of justice. What better place to hide lawbreakers than the ones defending it.

One time he had stumbled in on a deal that was going down. Stolen artwork was being transported down a back ally that he was currently sleeping in and the men woke him up. Naruto tried to run but against Uchiha Jounin, he really had no chance. The caught him and tied him up. He thought they were going to kill him or wipe his mind but one of them thought it would be better to sell him as a slave to a rich family. He was seven at the time and the Kyuubi brat, he was not sold for much, but money was money.

Naruto tried to block out the bad memories of his childhood by focusing on the room he was in again. It was warm and spacious. Not like the cage he almost died in from his new owners.

This was his life now, he had to keep moving forward. To stop and dwell on the past would get him nowhere. Oddly enough, it was this time that he noticed a red book on the coffee table in front of him. Naruto had been doing little else but reading and studying since he got back. He reached for the book and hoped that it might be a good fiction story. Sakura always was a bookworm and had the best books. Naruto just did not appreciate them until now. Another side effect of being joined with the Jyuubi. Naruto opened the book to find it was actually a scrapbook album.

He flicked through the pages and smiled. Sakura was really quite talented. Pictures and notes of her family were displayed in colourful cut outs. Images of her in the academy days and as a child beforehand were thrown all over the place. Naruto knew he might be infringing on her privacy to go through such a book, but why leave it out on the coffee table if not for guests to view? Just as Naruto reached for the next page, he paused as his clone from the mission to get the Amaterasu fire dispelled, signalling that it was successful.

Sakura called out from the kitchen.

"Hey Naruto. You like stew right?"

"Actually, I have never had it before. What is it like?" Naruto turned another page and giggled. Sakura really was a cute kid, even when she was trying to hide herself with long hair over her face.

"It is a mixture of meat and vegetables, cooked in a broth."

"Sounds like ramen! Chuck some noodles in it and I am sure I will be fine."

Naruto turned another page and instantly felt a lump in his throat. His breathe caught and his heart started to hurt. Maybe he should put the book down and forget about it. He really should not be reading it anyway. Unfortunately he turned the page and was bombarded by another image and words that brought everything back the day Sasuke killed himself.

"I am NOT putting noodles into it! It is STEW! Not ramen baka." Sakura laughed from the other room. Completely unaware of what Naruto had found.

Naruto was flipping pages franticly now and was not listening to anything his secret love was saying. Each one was more recent. There were dozens of them. Each one dated a new month. Some were a heart or a star or bunny rabbit or a cloud or some other cutesy shape. Some had pictures. Others had drawings. The pages stopped at the time the war started but that was no surprise. There was little time in war for the simple joys of scrapbooking. The message the pages spoke were clear though. Every page was of Sasuke and Sakura, together. The captions were worse though.

"Sakura and Sasuke"

"Sasuke and Sakura"

"Sakura and Sasuke Uchiha"

"Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha"

"Mrs. Sakura Uchiha"

There was not a variant in how the names were arranged that had not been accounted for. Every single one was carefully crafted and written in calligraphy. The dreams of a child were placed on paper for the world to see and without a hint of shame. Innocent dreams of an innocent love. A tear broke from Naruto's eye and landed on the pages.

It was not that Sakura had such a thing that hurt him. Nor was it that she had pictures of herself and Sasuke in the scrap book. What hurt was that he was not mentioned at all. Not one picture in all the pages. Not one comment or note of his existence. Who was he trying to kid? Why should he be mentioned? He was not special to her. He may be her friend some days but other days he was just a demon. No one could change their opinion on him in just a day as she supposedly had. From this book, he could conclude that she never thought much of him for years. To make matters worse, that nagging guilt he was starting to get rid of during the course of the day was now back with a vengeance. He was only fooling himself. She wanted Sasuke. Not him.

Sakura came into the room to find out why he had suddenly gone quiet and stopped in horror as she saw what he had in his hands. That old scrap book she had before the war, before she really came to know who Naruto was and how far Sasuke had fallen, was being held delicately in his hands. The look of agony on his face was starting to tear her apart. She had not intentionally left it there for the world to see. She was actually in the process of taking the "Sasuke" pages out to replace them with pictures of her real friends. Pictures of Ino, Sai, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Kiba, Tenten, Hinata, Lee, Choji, Shino, Neji and of course… Naruto.

Sakura had so many pictures of him from the days when they were really friends that she thought of making an entire scrapbook of JUST them. The only reason she had not thrown out Sasuke's book was that it also held precious pictures of her and her family when she was a child.

Sakura made to take the book away from him but Naruto just gently set it down and was avoiding all eye contact. A sledge hammer had just landed in the pit of Sakura's stomach as the thought that all the progress she had made today had instantly gone up in smoke. She went to hug him but he put his arm out to keep her away. How could she be so careless to leave something like that lying around? Truth was she had been impulsive in asking him back to her place. She was having such a good time just being friends again that she had forgotten all about Sasuke. That included her scrapbook from her more childish years.

They never made eye contact but Naruto's words carried enough emotion.

"I… I understand Sakura. You shouldn't need to worry about me. I am going to fix this. I know how to bring him back."

Sakura's eyes widened in fear. The only way to bring back the dead were Kinjutsu or forbidden techniques. He wouldn't… would he?

"I know you loved him. And I know how you feel about me."

Sakura would curse herself a thousand times in every language she knew for her words and actions against him. How could one person's words damage him so badly? She had to stop him before he threw himself away in some stupid vendetta to fix a wrong he had never committed. She pushed past his outstretched arm and grabbed onto him again, holding tight and trying to console him.

"Don't worry Sakura-Chan. Soon you will have your Sasuke-kun back."

There was a bright flash of light and her arms fell, holding nothing but air. Hiraishin. When the hell had he learned Hiraishin? He could be anywhere now …And no one could get there in time to stop him.

Sakura fell to her knees and started to shake. The situation was starting to sink in. Naruto would die. Sasuke would come back. It was anything but a fair trade. Sakura had learned that Naruto was worth a thousand Sasukes. Somewhere, the devil was laughing at her.

She wrapped her arms around herself and tried not to let the burning in her eyes overcome her.

"NARUTO!"

* * *

A flash of yellow light tore through the darkness of his apartment. He threw all of his papers and documents to one side of his room and cleared a space on the floor. He made his way to the scroll with the black flames of Hell sealed in it and took it off the shelf along with the Sword of Rebirth, a small bowl, The vial of Gennin blood and a bag of salt.

He took the bag of salt and started to pour a solid line of it in a circle, two metres in diameter. Taking the bowl, he pushed his hand out of the window and collected some of the rain that was still falling. He took the bowl and placed it in the centre of the circle in front of him as he sat with his legs crossed. He bit out the end cork on the vial and poured the blood into the water.

Making sure the sword of Rebirth was by his side, he unwound the scroll and dropped it into the bloody water just as it burst into the black flames. Going through a few hand signs, he recited the poem.

"Shadows of war and light of the innocent. Bring forth the lamp of earth's mother that hells flames may ignite its heart…"

The bowls contents began to bubble.

"…Strike out the darkness and shield yourself with the essence of innocence!"

A small ploom of red smoke crept from the edges of the bowl and spread across the floor.

"And While The Angel's Shed Their Tears… LET NO MAN BUT THOSE CHOSEN TO BEAR HIS CURSE CALL UPON HIM!"

A great wind stirred in the room and his papers were thrown about as the ensuing chaos of the summoning. The salt line on the ground was his only protection should things go badly and even that was just guesswork. Salt was used to purify and keep evil at bay. There was no clear statement that it would work on the god of death!

"SHOW YOURSELF TO ME! SHINIGAMI!"

The wind stopped and the red smoke began to solidify. The temperature in the room dropped to just above freezing and the lights went out. From the darkness came a voice that could only be that of death. Its low groan was that of the sick and dying. Painful and ever suffering.

"..why… why have you summoned me, mortal?"

Naruto gave a small smirk at his accomplishment. He had summoned death.

"I want to make a deal."

* * *

Authors Note: wow. A bad ass summoning if there ever was one. The ball is really going to start moving now. Remember that nothing is as it seems in my story. A final statement to quell the argument about my reviews. "A man who tries to please everybody, pleases NO ONE!" Took me a while to remember this. Still, reveiw if you want. I love hearing ideas and advice as well as feedback on what the general vibe you are recieving on where the story is going.

PARADOXPHILOSOPHER!


	9. The Deal

Hey Guys. you are listening to radio station PRX 925. Bringin you the top of your wanted list. Comin up we will be playin some breaking benjamin and a new song out from green day. But first! A new chapter of To Hell And Back! -prerecorded applause-

* * *

The Deal

"You foolish child" the voice from the darkness came again.

A cold chill ran up Naruto's spine and breathe was ice. The darkness was consuming and he feared that if he was subjected to it for too long he would be lost to madness. Naruto was used to that blazing fires of wrath that the Kyuubi would emit subconsciously but nothing he had faced could make him ready to stare down the darkness of death.

Naruto had come close to death many times. He had lost count how many times he had been run through with a blade. Forgotten how many times he had been blown to bits in war. Supressed the thoughts of years of suffering and torture. Through all of this, he was sure he could stand up to deaths presence. He must have been crazy.

Just being in the same room was suffocating him. Death was the end of all. No man, no matter how strong could evade its grasp forever. Orochimaru and Kakuzu were some of the strongest around and even they diverged most of their power to stave off the shinigami. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

Focusing on the task at hand though, he found his voice again.

"I said I wanted to make a trade. Stop hiding in the shadows and SHOW YOURSELF TO ME!"

"_**You impudent child! Do not order me as you would a slave! I am DEATH and have no master! I would take your soul just for gracing you with my presence. Your body is nothing but worm meat before me!"**_

"CUT THE CRAP!"

Naruto took a step into the dark. He hated theatrics of those who thought they were better than him. He may have been staring down Death but his bold nature at facing down a strong opponent was still present, even if it was not the most wise thing to do.

"I have dealt with the Kyuubi for years and his threats never worked on me. You want my soul? Let's do a deal and you just might get it! So cut the crap and let's get down to business!"

His boldness was a bluff. Naruto knew this. He had not a hope in hell if this went bad. He had studied his father's works into the occult and hundreds of other scrolls from his clones work around the country side. All of them said the same thing. Death was a God and not one you wanted to piss off. But Naruto had won over many people in his brashness. Many of the strong would respect or at least humour those who stood against them. Zabuza who was known as the demon of the mist was one of first and certainly not the last. There was a reason he was on the Christmas card lists of all the Kages.

A small laugh was heard from the darkness. It was a haunting laugh that echoed all around him and grew louder and more defined. The laughter stopped suddenly and an icy hand touched his cheek before death whispered into his ear. The whisper was feminine and almost seductive.

"Very well then… Naruto-kun."

Blue flames, a foot high, burst from the line of salt that surrounded them. A fire that burned like the frozen winds of the Land of Yin and Yang. The blue flames followed the line of salt until they were encircled in Death's ice inferno. The shadows of objects around them danced as given life from the flickering light. The fire was the start of the contract. He could not leave until the deal was done, less he face the freezing fires.

The azure glow revealed deaths form to him. She was truly enticing in her appearance. Death always was a great negotiator and even cunning enough to use her looks to her advantage. There were few that escaped her eyes once she had set those large black irises on them. No one cheated death in her true form. No one wanted to.

She was not necessarily evil, just doing her job of helping others cross over to the other side. To those that were left behind, she was the great collector of souls and feared by all the living. To those who were in transition, she was the calm and caring hand that led them to optimistic judgement and a better world. She had the power to take them by force but it was always better to just encourage them that it was better to cross over peacefully then to stay in a world that had already forgotten them.

Millennia of years at her job had made her voice calming and sweet. Her midnight hair and consuming eyes held the beauty and understanding of her role in nature. She held grace and kindness in her flowing white robes. There was a reason she was called an angel. From the way she carried herself and her outward appearance, she lived up to her reputation.

Naruto was not fooled by any of this however. Underneath all this beauty was the skeletal demon that took the Third Hokage.

"What is the deal you want to make Naruto-Kun?" She cooed.

Reaching into his pouch on his hip, he withdrew the Blade of Rebirth and threw it to the wooden floor between them. It dug in with a low thunk and the ruby on its hilt gleamed in the light of Death's fire. No bigger than a kunai, the engraved silver reflected the blue light.

"A straight up trade. My tanto for Sasuke."

Death bent down and plucked the blade from the wooden floor before weighing it in her hand. A sinister smile crossed her face.

"What? This old thing? I have more important things to do than to dally with old trinkets like this."

"If it is so worthless, then why are you holding onto it so dearly? It is not yours yet, give it back." Naruto countered.

Death did not like the cheek of this young boy. Flaring some of her power, she would put him in his place to try and mock her. Dark energy seeped from her and shot towards the young sage only to be blocked by the red chakra of the most powerful bijuu. Both energies dissipated and death gave a small giggle. Maybe this boy was not quite such a push over.

"Now now Naruto-kun. Let me finish. I said I have more important things to do than barter over this. Not that I was not interested. Where did you find such a treasure?" Her voice was sweet as honey again, despite having just tried to bring him to his knees.

"It was hidden on the icy slopes of a mountain, in Yin and Yang country."

"So that is where he hid it." Death chortled.

"Do we have a deal? Sasuke for the knife?" Naruto demanded.

"No."

WHAT!?"

Death began to move closer to him with a calm smile on her face. She needed to explain a few things to this young sage. Reaching out, she cupped his cheek with her hand only for him to pull back slightly from her cold embrace.

"The blade is of value to me Naruto-kun, but not worth so much as a body and soul. Sasuke was cremated and even if I were to release him from his confines, he would still have no body to preside in. You could offer yours, but he would surely die within a year. You are truly broken and without the Kurama's influence, you would have died long ago. Kurama's soul is also bound to your body in a way. If you die, then he dies. The moment your heart stops beating is the moment that he will join you in the afterlife."

Death placed the knife back into Naruto's hand, being sure to caress his finger in the process.

"Kurama will not keep your body alive if you are not in there. Sasuke could not survive in your body."

Naruto looked at the blade in his hands, running his fingers over the dulled edge.

"What do you propose then? How could I get Sasuke back?"

The Shinigami put her finger to her chin in a "cute thinking pose" which cause Naruto to roll his eyes. This image of death was a great deal better that the monster that took his father and the third but she didn't have to put on such an act.

"How about… instead of an exchange of what we need, we exchange a favour instead?"

Naruto looked at her curiously and tried to pick up on what she was getting at?

"What do you mean?"

Death sighed. Wise sage or not, you could net expect too much from a sixteen year old.

"I mean, you 'discard' the knife on the ground so that I may 'find' it and I give you the chance to go and retrieve your precious Sasuke? How does that sound?"

"He is not my precious anything!" Naruto quipped

"Oh sure sure. But do we have a deal?"

Naruto was still not entirely convinced.

"What do you mean by a chance to retrieve him?"

"I mean that I will separate your body from your soul and you can go and get him. I will give you twenty-four hours to retrieve him. After that, you will be brought back to your body, with or without him. This will be your last mission to retrieve him and I will get my knife back."

"Why don't we just make it my soul and the knife for Sasuke's body and soul?"

Death smiled sadly and shook her head.

"Kurama would not stand for that. I may be the god of death but even I do not want to go against him. He can be a real pain for me. Last time I pissed him off, he wiped out an entire country of people so I could not have a rest for close to a hundred years, processing souls. He cannot harm me but he can really cause me trouble. That may have been several thousand years ago but I don't want to mess with him again anytime soon."

Naruto looked at the knife in his hands again and weighed up the options. It was not as if they were not fair but he had a feeling that he would be getting into more than he bargained for. One last mission though. One last try. That was what he told himself.

Breathing out slowly, He let the knife slip from his fingers.

It did not hit the ground though. Instead it was caught by Death's slender fingers.

"Thank you Naruto-kun. And now I shall return the favour."

Stretching her hands out, a stone table slowly emerged from the floor. Dust flowed from the carved sandstone of the altar and the flames around them flashed to create a raging wall of flame to the roof. Rusted shackles and chains shot forward and wrapped around Naruto arms and legs like great snakes before ripping him off his feet and securing him to the altar. Naruto struggled and screamed in protest. The more he struggled the tighter the chains would wind around him.

With an audible click, the chains stilled and locked in place. Naruto still struggled but Death sauntered over to his side and stroked his face.

"Be still Naruto-kun. I am giving you what you wanted. I won't lie to you, this will hurt like a bitch, but it will be over soon my dear." Her voice was calming but Naruto growled at this woman. He never trusted her anyway. This only proved that he was right to be paranoid.

He pulled at the shackles around his wrists till they bled and tried to summon as much chakra to free himself but Death's grip held no escape for him.

Calmly and slowly, with a warm smile on her face, she leant down to his ear and whispered softly.

"This is my favourite part Naruto-kun. Are you ready for it?"

Her breath was ice again and she slowly and sensually moved to his lips. Smiling again, this time she showed the fangs beneath those supple lips. Naruto's struggles and screams fell on deaf ears.

Death finally crashed her lips on his and kissed violently as her hand clawed on his face. This was not kind or caring; this was not comforting and loving. This was the cold kiss of death.

Naruto screamed into her mouth and yanked at his bindings. His eyes glowed a white light before fading to a dull grey. She pulled her mouth from him as he stopped struggling and started to gag. The white light and streams of smoke left his gaping mouth and travelled into hers as she sucked out his soul. Naruto felt darkness creeping towards him and the world went black. His limp body fell back to the altar and his wide eyes saw nothing of this world anymore.

Death took a step back as the last of his soul entered her mouth and she swallowed. Licking her lips, she closed her eyes at the taste of foolish innocence. It had been too long since she had made a deal with mortals and she had forgotten the taste of a soul. It was truly delicious.

Sliding her hand along the sandstone alter, she made her way to the headrest. An hourglass with black sand in a bronze frame awaited her there. With all the grace that would befall a mother to an infant, she turned over the hourglass. Tiny onyx crystals began to fall through the spout of the glass, only to shatter into finer charcoal dust upon hitting the bottom.

"Twenty-four hours, Uzumaki." She smiled

"I hope you find what you are looking for."

* * *

Neji and Shino were on the rooftop across from the apartment complex. Cloaks shielded them from the rain. Neji was sipping some warm tea and offered some to Shino. Guard duty was always boring but for the two most stoic and tight lipped Shinobi in fire country, it was peaceful at least. They did not talk. They felt no need to. Silence was comfortable for them.

As Shino took the cup from Neji, the cupped shattered in his hand. Both men were stunned and knew a bad omen when they saw one. Both were up on their feet in an instant and charging towards that apartment.

"SHIT! THE SHIELD IS DOWN! NEJI!? WHAT DO YOU SEE?"

Neji already had his Byakugan activated and both men were a blur as they approached the apartment. Neji went pail and was visibly shaking but did not stop. Both men landed just in front of Naruto's door and Shino was about to charge in when Neji placed his hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"I don't know what I see in there but Naruto is not moving, get a Shikamaru and a medic here NOW!"

Shino nodded and started dashing across the rooftops to the Hokage tower. He had to get there fast. He trusted Neji to take care of Naruto until he got back. A minute wasted was a minute lost and if Neji said they needed Shikamaru and a medic then time was of the essence. He would not waste a single moment.

Neji watched as Shino vanished into the night before turning to the door.

Carefully he reached for the knob and turned it. The shield was down and the door was now free to move. Light from the street flooded into the dark apartment as a crash of thunder lit up the sky. Neji did not understand what he had seen but made his way into the room cautiously. The Byakugan could see in all directions and even in the dark but at the cost of some of the finer details like natural colour, unless it was seeing chakra. He needed to see the room without the Byakugan to know exactly what was happening.

Finding a light switch by the door, he flipped it and saw everything for what it was.

"Good God…"

* * *

Shikamaru was sitting in the chair by his desk and going over the late night papers. He reached for his stamp to complete this new trade treaty between Cloud and Leaf. It was one of many that had to be completed in quintuple. One for each of the great five nations of the alliance.

As he dipped his stamp into the ink, his sake cup shattered. Putting the stamp down on its rest, he moved to pick up the pieces of broken china. His eyes narrowed as he studied it in his hands. There were no faults in the china cup, nor could he see why it would have broken. Then he remembered a warning that Lady Tsunade had given him about broken cups and lottery tickets. He had written it off as silly superstition.

Putting the broken cup in the trash, he went back to his desk. Just as he was about to pick up the stamp again, the window to his right exploded and a man in a black cloak rolled to the floor. Three Anbu special ops soldiers were in the room in an instant. All heavily armed and ready to defend the Hokage without hesitation.

The man on the floor quickly stood to his feet and pulled his hood back.

"SIR! THE SHEILD IS DOWN AND NEJI IS ON THE SCENE! WE NEED YOU AND A MEDIC!"

Shikamaru had never seen Shino so much as flustered and now he was shouting and charging like a madman. The words sunk in and Shikamaru was now the authoritive leader of Konoha and no longer the lazy shogi player he may have been a few moments before.

Turning to one of his Anbu, he ordered them.

"Get Lady Tsunade and tell her to meet me at Naruto's apartment NOW! I don't care if she is enjoying retirement and drunk off her face. Get her there THIS INSTANT!"

"YES SIR!"

The Anbu were gone in a swirl of leaves and Shikamaru turned to Shino.

"Let's go." He said as he pulled on his own travel cloak.

NxS

By the time they arrived back at Naruto's apartment, Neji was outside the door and the normally poker faced man was pacing back and forth in a panic. He turned to his Hokage and began to apologise. His hands were trembling and he was shaking his head.

"I don't know what happened. The shield went down and we got here as fast as we could but… but.."

Shikamaru pushed past the man and stormed into the room. Before him was a terrible sight.

The room was in chaos with papers scattered everywhere. Scrolls littered the floor along with a few empty ramen cups. On the walls were images of seals, ancient writings and pictures of demons. The twisted spirals and symbols of just about every occult and black art were up on display for every person to see.

Naruto was sprawled out on a stone table. Chains held him down and he was bleeding from the shackles that held his arms above his head. Chains were wrapped around his waist and ankles, securing him to the stone block. His eyes were open and his face was contorted to that of an agonizing scream. He was not moving.

"My god… Naruto. What have you done?"

Shikamaru turned and left the room, gasping for breath. He had let this happen. It was his call to leave Naruto to his own devices, believing that he would be fine on his own. He now realized that he had left Naruto locked in a room with his worst enemy for close to a month. Himself.

Making his way back out into the storm, he slammed the door shut. Neji was no longer pacing the walkway now; instead he was sitting quietly with his head in his hands. Shikamaru moved to his side and knelt down, placing his hand on his shoulder.

"It was my order to leave him alone. Do not blame yourself."

Neji looked up at his long-time friend and now superior officer. Something snapped in his head as he heard those words. Blame himself? Of course he blamed himself but he also blamed Shikamaru for this. He was in charge of the situation and he had fumbled it, badly. This was not the first time either.

Snarling at the Hokage, he grabbed him and slammed him into the wall behind him.

"You _**BASTARD!**_ THIS IS YOUR FAULT! YOU NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN MADE HOKAGE! YOU ALWAYS FUCK IT UP WHEN NARUTO IS CONCERNED! YOU ALWAYS THINK YOU KNOW HOW HE WORKS AND PLAY IT BY THE BEST ODDS!"

He pulled Shikamaru back and slammed him again into the wall, causing it to crack. Shino was trying to pull Neji off the Hokage but it was of little use.

"NARUTO ALWAYS DOES WHAT YOU _**LEAST**_ EXPECT! YOU NEVER UNDERSTOOD HIM! YOU ALWAYS TRIED BUT YOU NEVER COULD! THAT IS BECAUSE **NO ONE** CAN POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND HIM! NOT WITH ALL THE SHIT HE HAS GONE THROUGH!"

The new Hokage did not fight Neji on that. He did not know all that Naruto had gone through but Neji knew something that the others didn't. He would never tell them his sordid past involving Naruto but something told Shikamaru that it went way before their chunnin exam battle.

"You always mess it up with Naruto. You screwed up with the first mission to get Sasuke back where we all almost got killed. Naruto came off the worst in that and it was your first command as chunnin! There was the war and I know you were part of the group that shoved him off to that island to keep him safe while we died. He found out in the end and had to come and save us all! AND NOW! NOW YOU ORDER US TO SIT ON OUR HANDS AND HE IS FUCKING DEAD! YOUR FIRST ORDER AS HOKAGE AND **YOU KILLED HIM YOU BASTARD!"**

Shino stopped and looked at Shikamaru for confirmation. He was the only one who had not seen inside the room. Shikamaru was hanging his head and the look on his face was the only confirmation he needed.

Neji dropped Shikamaru and turned to walk away.

"You should never have been made Hokage…you are a curse to him…"

Neji shoved his hands in his pockets and took a walk to cool off. Tempers were high and hurtful things were bound to be said.

"..We are all a curse to him…"

Neji walked out to the balcony edge and jumped out into the rain.

* * *

Lady Tsunade was hurrying to the apartment. She did not know everything that was going on. She was no longer Hokage and not privy to everything that went through the Hokage office but she had caught wind of Naruto barricading himself up in his room. Shikamaru had ordered them to wait it out and see what Naruto's next move was but she felt it a bad idea. Naruto was, despite his sometimes bad manners, a people person and when he locked himself away, she had read it as a cry for help. Naruto using shadow clones to hide behind a wall of smiles was certainly elaborate but it was nothing new either.

Arriving on the scene, she found the new Hokage sitting on the ground by the closed door and Shino looking about as pissed as a man who hid his entire body could look.

"He's dead…" the Hokage mumbled. He did not even turn to look at her.

Tsunade was struck to the core. No. This could not have happened. Naruto would not have killed himself! He could not have! It had to be a lie.

Striding into the apartment, she was shocked by the room she had entered. It felt like she was in one of Orochimaru's lairs. What the hell had Naruto done?

She moved to his side and was stricken by his distorted face. She shook her head as tears broke for the boy she considered a grandson. How could he have done this to himself? She reached forward and hugged his lifeless form. His arms and legs were chained to the cold stone slab in a cruel and humiliating posture. The blood around his wrist had coagulated and the click of the steel links was enunciated by the silence of the apartment. Not even the rain on the roof could distract her from the music those chains made.

She reached up with her hand to his open and hollow eyes, moving to close them so that he may sleep forever in peace. As her hand shifted by his nose and mouth however, a gentle movement of air could be felt.

Lifting her head from his stomach, she opened her eyes wide and looked down upon him with hope. She had to strain to see it but it was there. The very subtle movements of his chest and the feeling of air moving on her hand by his nose and mouth. He was breathing! She quickly pressed her fingers to his neck for a pulse. It was faint. Very shallow and slow but it was there. He was alive!

Saying her thanks to whatever Deity was out there, she screamed for the others.

"SHIKAMARU! SHINO! GET IN HERE! HE IS ALIVE!"

Both men charged into the room and looked at her in awe. She was standing over his prone form on the stone and smiling with tears coming down her face.

"What happened? What did you do?" Shino asked.

"He has a heartbeat and he is breathing! It is shallow but it is there. I don't know what happened but he is not dead."

Tsunade then began to run a diagnostic sweep over the now officially alive Uzumaki. Her glowing green hand made its way up and down his body before stopping over his forehead. She ran the sweep again and still stopped when she was over his forehead with a frown.

"He is in a coma. His breathing is dangerously shallow and his heart is around forty beats per minute. Physically he seems fine. No problems with his circulatory system, lymphatic system or his neurological network. I just can't sense it though."

"Sense what?"

"His life force or his chakra. They are gone. I can sense the Kyuubi but not Naruto."

"What does that mean?" Shikamaru ordered

"I don't know. But whatever it means, I think you will find the answer in whatever it is he was working on. There is little more that I can do here."

Shikamaru looked around at the scattered papers and scrolls. It would take him months to go through all of these and find an answer. He would need help.

"Can you help me please? I don't think I can do this alone." He pleaded.

"I will stick around but I am not the best one for paper work. I always avoided it like the plague."

Tsunade let out a slow breath as she looked at the scrolls and papers. She picked one up and ran her fingertip along the words. It was all things that she never understood.

"It was Jiraiya that was the master of seals. It was Orochimaru who was the researcher of the occult. I was the one who could fix the physical body. I was never good at either of the other things. Naruto is in a coma and his chakra is gone. His physical body is fine though. There is nothing I can do. These scrolls mean nothing to me. I cannot decipher them"

Shikamaru was puzzled as to what to do. He racked his brain trying to figure out what needed to be done. Tsunade interrupted his thoughts again.

"I may not be able to learn what is in these scrolls, but I know someone who can. Her intelligence rivals your own Shikamaru; she has just been over looked for a long time because of her immaturity and lack of combat skills. Now is her time to show you what she can do though. "

"I thought they were not on speaking terms though? Even since the incident?" Shikamaru asked.

"That may not necessarily be true. Our report from Sai and Kiba states that she stopped by this morning. They did not follow her because the shield was still up and presumed he ditched her with a shadow clone." Spoke Shino with his now calm voice.

Shikamaru nodded as he took in this information. He could order the Anbu to summon her here but he felt that since it was his call to make Neji and Shino wait it out, he should be the one to tell her what had happened.

"Very well then. Lady Tsunade, I ask that you stay here and watch over Naruto with Shino while I go and find Sakura. Her book smarts are the only real hope that we have right now. She is the only one that can sort through all of this data at the speed we need it."

His former leader and subordinate nodded at his request. Shikamaru pulled up the hood on his cloak as he headed out to face the rain. He only hoped that Sakura was still awake and willing to help Naruto. The status of their relationship was still something of a mystery to him. He hoped that she could put aside any trouble she might still have with this man, if it was not already too late.

* * *

Naruto woke on a hard red boulder and groaned in pain as he sat up. That bitch was right. It had hurt like hell. He had no idea where he was or what he was supposes to do. He opened his eyes and waited for them to focus.

As he shuffled to his knees and eventually his feet he took a moment to look around. He was in a cave of red stone that seemed to have only one way to go. The tunnel in front of him was only a few feet wide but high enough for even the tallest man. Jumping from the boulder he rested upon, he landed on what he now noticed to be bare feet.

Stopping to look at himself for the first time, he found himself as bear as the day he was born. Making another quick look around, he saw he was alone in the tunnel and the only way forward was a downward slope. Keeping an eye out for anyone who might catch a look at him, he made his way forward.

Passing through the tunnel, some torches lit his path. The torches carried the same eerie blue flame that the Shinigami had summoned, only these flames burned hot. Grabbing one of the torches from its mount on the wall, he ventured on. Under the blue light he noticed a tattoo on his wrist of an hourglass and sand slowly moving through it. This must be his time limit.

After the first hundred metres or so, he came an opening in the cave that showed vast racks of clothing and weapons. As he studied the items on display, he started to pick out his gear. This was obviously a rest stop before his journey began. A time to supply and maybe say a few last prayers. He hoped that he was not where he thought he was, but knowing how cunning the Shinigami can be, there was little doubt in his mind.

Pulling on a long sleave black shirt and long black pants to start with, he began to strap on a series of utility belts and holsters. It was best to be prepared for anything he thought as he tied on his combat boots. He didn't know why but was getting ready for a war and he was going to be packing as much into his arsenal as he could carry. Kunai were strapped to every part of his body he could. The spaces in between the kunai, he hid shuriken and senbon needles. Coils of Devils Wire were wrapped around his wrists and ankles in spools. Books of exploding tags were shoved into his back pockets. Oddly enough, there was no armour or protective equipment of any kind among the racks. Only weapons.

He was drawn to a Naginata that sat off to the corner. As he picked up the pole blade and weighed it in his hands, he was reminded of training with Tenten a few times. The pole handle was heavy ebony wood and the long curved blade at the top was fine steel. As he swung it slowly though the air, the blade hummed a sweet tune and called for battle. Such a weapon would cause devastation if he was home.

Looking at the Naginata in his hands, he knew where he was. He was at the gates of Hell and this was his last breather before he entered.

Marching forward through the tunnels with only one thought on his mind, to bring back Sasuke, he reached a cliff ledge that overlooked a valley below. Below was a site that the only thing on earth that could truly be likened to Hell. It was so fitting that such a thing be his welcoming party.

Naruto gave a mirthless chuckle as he witnessed the carnage before him. Explosions rocked the open ground and the cries of man dying reached his ears. This truly was Hell. This was…

"..War…"

* * *

Wow Guys. Things are starting to happen now. I must admitt that some of my favourite books are written by Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Some of this story may be affected by my favouritism towards their style.

Anyway. thankyou for reeading so far. please reveiw if you so choose. I actually read this chapter again and I was not feeling the emotion I put into it while writing it. I guess I sort of got lost along the way. oh well. better luck next time I guess.

ParadoxPhilospher


	10. Found You!

Hey guys. sorry for the late update but I have been quite sick as of late. here is the next installation of THAB!

* * *

Found You.

The flames grew higher as the consumed another torn page from her book. The oils from the paints and various amounts of glue on the paper added fuel to the fire. Whipping about and curling around the pages, the flames danced for joy.

She tore out another page. This one she placed in a pile on her coffee table as one to keep. It was a picture of her dad and herself on her first day as an academy student. These pictures were a treasure and should not be burnt with the rest of her Sasuke obsession. As she flicked through the book, there really was no other way to describe it.

There were "wedding pictures" for crying out loud. Did her parents not see the signs of a dangerous obsession here? Did they not try to encourage her to seek out a boy that was maybe a little less likely to sell her and the fire nation down the river for a tip on his older brother's location?

Of course they had. She just didn't listen. He was still the fallen prince who just needed a loving princess to save him from the darkness. It was now that she was older and wiser that she realized that what he needed was psychiatric help. Not hugs and kisses.

She looked at the thinning book in her hands. So many pages devoted to something that had destroyed her friendship with so many people. Maybe Sasuke was not the only one who needed to see a psychiatrist. She was in need of some serious counselling as well. The first step to any road to recovery was to admit that you had a problem and Sakura's had slapped her in the face big time now. There was no way to keep denying it now.

Sasuke was dead and so was her fantasy. That was not what bothered her though. It was the price that Naruto had paid for her fantasy. How he had kept quiet as the toll grew higher and higher. She had a warning of how much it was costing him when he prophesied that when He and Sasuke fought, both of them would die.

It was with greater urgency now that she tore out more pages and threw them into the metal bucket on her coffee table. These pages would hurt Naruto no more. No one would ever see them again. Once the pages were nothing but ash, she would go look for him. He could be anywhere but there was always hope that he would wait until after the storm had passed that he would try something. She prayed to every God she knew that he would wait, but as the ticking of her clock echoed through the otherwise quiet home, she knew that time was growing short.

She would have been out of there the instant he left had it not been for this cursed book. There was no point in bringing him back if the first thing he saw when he walked in that door was the same book of lovey dovey crap, still sitting on her table. She had to remove everything that was of Sasuke if he was ever to listen to her. She could not do all of that in a few minutes but this book would know her wrath for hurting Naruto the way it had. It was really an attack on herself though. Just as the fire in the metal bucket would cleanse the world of this book, so too would she cleanse herself of Sasuke so that nothing like this would ever happen again.

As she ripped out the last page of her treasured family pictures and placed the safely to the side, she ungracefully dropped the rest of the book into the blazing inferno that was now on her coffee table. It was with satisfaction that she watched it burn, but even these fires could not stop the aching despair that was growing in her chest. She had to find Naruto now! She had to stop him before it was too late.

Leaving the bucket of fire to burn itself out, she grabbed her cloak and pulled on some more durable boots. These ones would hold up to the torrential rain and mud that was likely to hit her as she left her home. The storm had grown stronger when Naruto had left and died down again. She was sure that it would pick up again when she left. As she strode towards her door, she was stopped when someone knocked on it.

A tiny glimmer of hope crossed her mind that it might be Naruto. He had left in such a hurry that he had left a few things behind. Some wet clothes were in the bathroom and his sandals were by the door. Maybe he had come back for them and did not want to just "flash in" with the Hiraishin and grab them before she realized he was there. Naruto was never so rude as that.

Grabbing the door handle and opening it quickly, all her hopes were quickly dashed as Shikamaru stood before her. The rain was starting to come down heavily again and he was looking unusually miserable to be in it. He lifted his head to look into her eyes as he spoke.

"I need to talk to you because I need your help."

Sakura was not wanting to waste time talking to Shikamaru right now. Hokage request or not, she had to find Naruto.

"I can't talk right now. I have something very important to do that even you can't stop me."

Shikamaru had to be cautious with his words. He did not know what was happening between Sakura and Naruto. She could still be upset about the whole Sasuke incident and talks of Naruto in a death like state could go badly if not handled delicately. The report from Kiba and Sai was that she had dropped around this morning at his home but it was decided that since the shield was still up that Naruto had ditched her with a clone. If she had discovered this treachery then she would be fuming at his deceit. He could not let on that Naruto was under surveillance either because that would raise too many questions. He had to tell her what had happened but in the right order so she would co-operate with them.

"I did not say I want to talk to you Sakura. I said that I need to talk with you. Something has happened and we need you to look into it. I don't care if you are busy right now. As the Hokage's order, this takes precedence."

"And as I told you, I have something I have to do and you can not stop me! I have to find HIM!"

Shikamaru paused for a moment as the gears in his head started to turn. Many had doubted his strength but his mind was his greatest weapon. He started to quickly take in the details and deduce what was happening. She had only said two sentences but that told him more than enough.

The fact that she had stated that even an order from the Hokage would not stop her, meant that this person was both trusted and very important to her. She was wearing heavy weather gear. Cloak and boots but her hair was not tied down and she did not have an umbrella. From Ino, he had learnt that Sakura had taken just about as much pride in her appearance as she did and to not care about it right now meant that she was leaving in a hurry. She had also stated that she was looking for a male and judging from the only report he had of the men she kept company with, that could only be one person. Sasuke was dead. Kakashi was away on leave in Kumo. Sai was part of the surveillance team. Naruto was the only one left that she would trust and had recent contact with.

"I know where Naruto is. We need to talk. Can we please go inside? This rain is troublesome."

No sooner had he said those words did Sakura grab him by his collar and drag him inside before slamming him against the wall. This was not done out of anger but anxiousness for answers.

"WHERE IS HE? IS HE OK?!"

"Geez! Calm down Sakura. He is at his apartment and Tsunade is with him."

This was not a lie in a sense but if he told her outright that he was in a coma like state then she would rush off before he could explain what happened. He needed all the information he could get about what had happened from her before he would tell her his side of the story. Only then would he know if she would be an emotional wreck or if she would throw him into the wall again like Neji did.

Sakura seemed to calm down at the knowledge that he was with Tsunade. She was the only one besides herself that she would really trust to look after Naruto had he injured himself. But the presence of Tsunade being there also made her worry more.

"Why is Lady Tsunade there?! What happened to him!?"

The vice like hands were only getting tighter on his Hokage robes and he was starting to see a few stares as this terrifying woman was literally giving him a shake down. He panicked.

"WE DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED! THAT IS WHY WE NEED YOU!"

The pinkette dropped the Hokage and was heading out the door in a second. She had to get to Naruto. She needed to make sure he was alright.

Shikamaru was a bit dazed at having been dropped on the floor but was quick to rise back to his feet. As he looked to the open door and the rain that was pouring in, he knew where she was headed and ran after her.

* * *

From his perch on the cliff edge, blue eyes watched in morbid fascination as wave after wave of men and women crashed into each other. Their cries of frustration and anger were only drowned out by those of pain and agony. Over the cacophony of screams, the roar of paper bombs being detonated hurt his ears. Great pillars of fire shot towards the heavens as the explosions rocked the earth and people disappeared into the hellish inferno. Arrows filled the sky and rained down on those who survived the blasts.

Sword was met with spear. Fist met jaw. Dagger was blocked by tanto. Shuriken and kunai met the arrows in the sky and redirected them towards a new target. The land was so filled with the dead and dying that those who ran to fight the enemy would trip over the fallen and become victim themselves. There was no grace or style in this fight. It was hack and slash, punch and kick, club and crush.

The people on the ground held no remorse or hesitation as they fought, tooth and nail, for every bit of land in what Naruto could see from his position, as a never ending slaughter.

The screams and meaty thuds as the bodies hit the floor were horrifying, but any man who had seen battle knew that this was what war truly was. Many wise Generals spoke of honour on the battlefield and compassion for your enemy but the truth was that even the greatest idealist was no match for the grim reality of a sword heading towards you. It was kill or be killed until you grow tired and are cut down anyway. There was no honour in real war. Only agonizing death for the one who hesitated.

As he watched the scene below, trying to find Sasuke in the mess of blood and carnage, a few peculiarities caught his eyes.

There was one man, who he could have sworn was just killed, running head first into the enemy again. Sword raised above his head and screaming, he swung down and cleaved a man in two. At this moment, an opening was created and the bifurcated man's comrade took it to stab the attacker with his spear. Bleeding, he fell to his knees, the spear was ripped from his chest and he fell forward dead.

Not a few moments after this man's death, did Naruto hear that same distinct battle cry and see him again, running towards the enemy with his sword raised. This time he was hit by an arrow to the leg and a "scavenger" crept to him and slit his throat. Again, he died.

However, once again he was charging towards his opponents with a spear this time. Naruto looked around him and noticed more people who had been killed were back up and fighting. It seemed as if when they were killed that they would come back to life at their home lines and grab a weapon before charging out again. Millions of people fighting and dying only to be brought back to die again. It was truly a never ending war.

Another thing that caught his attention was that none of these soldiers were using chakra. Not a single one of them. They were not even trying to run along a wall or jump higher. There were no elemental techniques or even basic Gennin practices. It was hand to hand fighting or weapons with exploding tags.

Naruto looked at his hand for a moment and formed a Rasengan. Just a small one to test his theory, but when the blue swirling sphere came to his hand, he was more confused than ever. Why did they not use chakra? He could use it, why couldn't they?

The last thing he noticed was the great open door at the side of the arena of death. This door looked ancient but untouched by the ravages of war. It was open for all to pass through and could easily allow an escape for these people. They did not have to fight. They could all just leave. Why then, did they stay?

Naruto had to make a choice if he wanted to continue to look for Sasuke. It was a war below and he needed to choose a side. He did not think that it really mattered in all of this chaos. It was hard enough to pick which side most men came anyway. There were no markings as to alliances. Everything was just glorified chaos.

Flipping a coin in his mind, he chose the left side; it really didn't matter to him. If Sasuke was not down there then he would change sides and if he still could not find him, he would move on through the great doorway.

After making his decision, he leaped from the cliff face and fell towards the ground. With a tuck and a roll when he hit, he stood and made his way towards the rear lines.

NxS

Sakura was running through the rain quickly. She would forego the cover of buildings for the speed that roof hopping gave. As lightning crashed the sky and illuminated her path, she could only pray that he really was alright. Her master was there with him and there was little that Sakura could do that Tsunade couldn't. Why would they request her specifically then?

Such thoughts were only a distraction right now. She would get to him first and then she would figure out such things. Finally after an agonizing three minutes of roof hopping, she made it to his building.

Jumping down to the open balcony of doors that lined his floor, she ran to his door and burst through it. What met her eyes was the worst thing she had ever seen.

Naruto was chained to a stone slab altar in the middle of the dark room. His wrists were still bloody and his eyes half open in an expression that she had seen in those who had died painfully on the battlefield. There was not the peaceful look in his eyes as some who had died on an operating table during surgery. Rather than that, it was the gaze of a tortured man who had his life ripped from him.

Running towards his still form that was sprawled on the cold stone, she howled in tears. She could not hide her breaking heart from the world and would not give the world the satisfaction of making her hide it either. Tears streamed her face and her throat was starting to grow raw from her crying. Her hands were shaking him as she tried to wake him, only for him to fall limp when she let go.

"Na-naruto… PLEASE! ..NO! …WAKE UP NARUTO!"

She was like a child again. So powerless and so frightened. Naruto was always there for her. A life with him gone was impossible to even comprehend. He was cold to her touch and unresponsive to her calls.

There was movement in the room but she didn't care. She was too late to save him.

* * *

He marched with his head high to the rear soldiers guarding the flank. As he approached, they raised their weapons to him. Naruto simply raised his Naginata and stabbed the blunt end into the earth, burying it so it could stand on its own. He stepped forward and placed a hand on his chest.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Who is your commanding officer?"

"I AM!" came the reply from a man twice Naruto's height. The man was a giant and solid muscle. His chest was bare and on his shoulders was a club the size of a horse. It had to weigh over fifty tons. Only a monster of a man could move it. Naruto felt he would meet a lot of men like this in his travels through Hell.

"I am looking for a man. He claims to be the Last Uchiha. Do you know him?"

"Why should I tell a pipsqueak like you? You are not even big enough to serve as fodder for the arrows that are coming in!" The giant laughed.

"You should not go by appearances you know. You may look tough but are clearly not a soldier or else you would be out on the front lines and not hiding behind your men. A guard is only good enough to sound an alarm before dying. Anyone of great fighting prowess is used for the war itself. Even a monkey would know that."

Naruto's snide remark was met exactly how he would expect a brute to respond. The man charged him and swung his club down at the blond in a blind rage. He saw the blow coming but didn't make a move. The massive steel lump hit the ground and buried itself into the earth, cracks from the resulting crater spread out like a spider's web.

"Heh, Guess I squished that bug!" He laughed

It was then that all the years that Naruto's training under Kakashi kicked in as he looked down from the man's burly shoulder and asked in a bored tone "Oh really? Where?"

The man lifted his giant steel club to check that Naruto indeed was not under it and that this man sitting on his shoulder was not a doppelganger.

"How! How did you..!?"

He was cut off as Naruto dropped a clenched fist on the man's head, like he would if he was trying to crush a nut on a table counter. It was only a light tap really but the man's eye went white and he fell face first into the dirt, unconscious.

Naruto sighed as he left the fallen man on the ground and moved back towards his Naginata. Plucking it from the ground, he started to twirl it above his head before dropping the blunt end into the ground again. This time the ground all around them shook and great cracks coursed through the earth before climbing up the stone cliff. A large section of the cliff tumbled and fell to the ground in a great cloud of dust.

"Now… let me finish my introduction…" He said in a calm voice.

"My name it Uzumaki Naruto… I am the Toad Sage…"

He again pulled his Naginata from the ground but this time started to walk towards the group of men that was now amassing at the sight of their fallen General.

"..I am the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki…"

His voice was growing cold and he chose now to flare his chakra. The great waves of energy were now flowing around the blonde man.

"…I am the Demon of the Hidden Leaf…"

All those around him took a small step back as he neared them. No one had chakra here. Not even those who claimed to be the leaders of this war had chakra. What the hell was this man if not a real demon!?

"…And I want to know…"

Naruto stopped and looked them all dead in the eye. His voice was cold as ice and he gave off the aura of a murderous beast.

"…WHERE IS SASUKE UCHIHA!?"

Naruto was sick of playing the nice guy and not being given any respect. All his life he was treated like a demon and now that he was in Hell with all these other criminals, if they wanted a demon… they would get one. He was not going to go nice on those who stood in his way. Such was the nature of the battlefield. You had to be tougher than nails if you wanted to survive.

One of the men who was close to wetting himself pointed a finger to the opposing side.

"I…I..I think he ..is on that side… Naruto-sama!"

The man was visibly shaking in fear. Death down here meant nothing to anyone. You would be brought back after a few moments. The fear was not of dying but of the pain of dying and how many creative ways people around here had come up with. This man before him, had just taken out one of those self-appointed Generals and now wanted to know where another man was. He had no idea of where this "Sasuke" was but if he could direct the aggression towards the enemy then at least it was not aimed at them.

"What is this war about? Who is fighting who? And for what reasons?"

Naruto's question stumped a lot of the men that were around him. In truth, none of them had even thought about it. Again, the same man spoke up.

"We.. we don't know sir. We only fight them because they fight us. There is really no one is command. Only those who deem themselves strong enough to be general take charge. We have been fighting for years and never really made any progress. All that we know is that they killed our guys so we are going to kill the double for it!"

"Yeah! That's right! Those animals have killed thousands of our guys! We HAVE to kill them! To avenge our men and our honour!"

"LEAD US UZUMAKI-SAMA!"

A round of cheers was raised as cries of how the great Uzumaki-sama would lead them to victory spread.

Naruto nodded his head to the man and leapt into the air, headed for the front lines. All the men around had breathed a sigh of relief that he was gone and would not kill them but secretly wanted to thank him for taking out "Kuzamu-sama" who was now unconscious on the ground. He really was just a tyrant, hiding behind the lines as a "guard".

As Naruto made a run for the front lines, the words of the men behind him started to sink in. This war was a war without purpose. It was the embodiment of the cycle of hate that his master had taught him to be wary of. One man attacks another and kills him. The dead man's friends seek justice for their friend's death, a reasonable thing. But was one life truly worth another? The second man's death sparked HIS friends to seek out Justice for his death as well. The more people who are killed, the less satisfied the living are with the end result and so seek out more "Justice" and more people die. Eventually, everyone is affected and the dispute becomes a war. A cycle of death and hatred. A world of chaos.

This place was what could have happened to his home had someone not intervened to stop the conflict. Most wars were stopped by a single battle that turned the tides unmistakably in the others favour and forced a truce before one or both sides were destroyed. A truce was not peace however. It was enforced obedience. Obey our terms or die.

Resentment and hate was still just below the surface and only grew as the years went by, each side just biding their time as they secretly amassed armies to start the war all over.

Naruto knew of only two ways to get both factions to stop fighting and work together for peace. One way was for both sides to swallow their pride and forget about "honour" and hatred and put it behind them to start a new. This was next to impossible. Years of hate and war could not be forgotten overnight. Treaties that were signed were, in the end, just pieces of paper. No one could really make peace this way. It just went against human nature.

There was one other way that did work and had worked back in the realm of the living. That was a common enemy. A third party that entered the fray and declared itself a combatant of great strength. So strong that only by fusion of the previous warring parties could they defeat it. That was what had happened with Akatsuki.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts as he reached the centre of the conflict. Closing in on the front line, he jumped up into the air again and swung his Naginata down into the ground, causing an earthquake. This took a lot of chakra and a fair bit of control. He was basically stealing Tsunade's move here but he needed to get everyone's attention. The ground shook violently and everyone in the centre was thrown back by the shockwave.

Before they could reorganise to attack each other again, Naruto ran through some handsigns and kicked the ground. The resulting effect was a great stone wall rising from the earth and separating the two warring factions.

With a great voice he called out to them.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!"

A lot of the fighters looked outraged that someone would dare to intrude on their battles. How dare this whelp show up and tell them what to do.

"THIS WAR IS TO END NOW! FOR YEARS YOU HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR NO REASON AT ALL AND I AM HERE TO TELL YOU IT STOPS TODAY!"

"And who are you to state such things?!" A voice called out from the masses.

With these words, Naruto formed ten shadow clones and had them stand along the wall. All of them started to work on their own Oodama Rasengan. The line of great spheres were then moved together and merged to form a single Oodama Rasengan. All ten clones were working to keep this monstrous chakra ball stable. The great Rasengan now stood at high as the wall on top of it. Its blaring hum of destruction was just waiting to be released at a moment's notice.

"I AM THE DEMON OF THE LEAF AND THE ONE WHO CONTROLS HOW YOU DIE!"

If his words did not have everyone's attention then the swirling mass of death that was now roaring above them did.

"THIS CHAKRA BOMB WILL CLEAR YOU ALL OFF THE FACE OF THIS REALM IN AN INSTANT! I AM ORDERING YOU TO THROW DOWN YOUR ARMS AND YOUR HATRED, LESS YOU FEEL MY WRATH! THERE IS A WORLD BEYOND THIS WAR THAT IS WAITING FOR YOU! THE DOOR IS THERE FOR YOU. YOU JUST HAVE TO WALK THROUGH IT!

It was this moment that a few of the people on the ground actually took the time to look around and see the giant door to the side of them. So busy had they been with fighting that the great door was simply forgotten. Many of them put their weapons down the moment they saw it and ran for the door. So happy to be free of this world. They did not know what lay beyond the great door but anything had to be better than this.

At the site of most of the forces laying down their weapons and starting to leave, did Naruto allow his chakra bomb to dissipate. He had no intentions of actually using it. It was just a threat to get people to open up their eyes and see the door before them. Now that the fighting was over, he could ask where Sasuke was.

* * *

Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder but did not register it until it started to pull her away from the dead man. She was too distraught let him go. All those things that she had said had finally come back to bite her. He had gone and done it.

Years of pushing him away had brought him to this state he was in. The rain outside the room felt like it might as well be a light shower compared to the tears she was shedding for this man. He was so far away now.

As she was pulled from the body and into a chair in the corner of the room, a powerful slap crossed her face. Pain registered from the external source and so did the words that were being shouted at her.

"HE IS ALIVE YOU IDIOT!"

Through blurry eyes she saw the ticked off face of her master. The sting of her face at the blow was now covering the whole side of her face and as she ran her tongue around inside her mouth, she thought she could taste blood. The full force of the slap now was realized and the woman dropped out of the chair clutching her face and curled up on the floor.

"OOOOWW! THAT HURT!"

Sakura was so stunned by the whole thing that she forgot for a moment that she could alleviate the pain herself with a healing technique.

Tsunade just rolled her eyes at the young woman writhing in agony on the floor before pulling her up onto the chair again and healing her "bruised" cheek herself. Granted, she did hit the girl a bit hard but she was tired of telling her that he was not dead for the past ten minutes with little result.

"Why did you hit me so hard?"

"Because you wouldn't shut up! I swear, you are as loud as Naruto was when YOU were unconscious in hospital!"

At the mention of his name, Sakura looked back at the blonde on the stone table and felt like she was going to cry again.

"So.. so he isn't dead?"

"Yeah.. that is what I have been trying to tell you for the past fifteen minutes. What kind of medic are you? Use your diagnostic skills before you declare someone dead next time!"

Sakura could not believe that she had made such a stupid mistake. She was one of the finest medics in fire country. It was just that when it came to Naruto that she fell apart. There was an unsaid rule among surgeons though, that you do not operate on family or friends. Your emotions can influence your decisions during a procedure.

Getting up from her chair, she edged towards the deathly still blonde and placed her hand on his neck and found the artery. Gently beneath her fingers, she could feel the pulse of his heart. It was the most beautiful thing that she had ever felt. Moving her hand up to his nose, she felt the warm breeze of air flowing from his nostrils. She turned back to her master with a great smile.

"He IS alive!"

Tsunade snorted and crossed her arms.

"What? You doubted my ability to tell if someone is alive or dead? Impudent child!"

She would not let Sakura discover that she was in a similar state when she first found him like that. That was one of the things that she would die first before revealing. Still, they needed to get to work.

"Sakura, I want you to run a full diagnostic on him. Check everything and tell me what you find."

Sakura nodded and quickly removed her cloak and hung it behind the door before getting to work. Her hand started to glow as the green chakra flowed from it and into the unconscious blonde. Her face contorted as she ran her diagnostic sweep over him and just as Tsunade had done, she paused over his forehead before running over him again to find the same results.

"He is comatose."

Tsunade nodded with her arms still crossed and her eyes closed in contemplation.

"Just as I had deduced."

"He also has muscular spasms that are in synchronisation with each other. His muscles are pulling him in all directions and trying to rip his body apart. They are equally balanced however and cancel each other out. That is why he is in such a contorted position."

Sakura placed her hand on a pressure point towards the top of his neck and the blonde's whole body just flopped to a more relaxed position. Even his face turned to one that was more resting than screaming.

"I also can't seem to find any of his chakra or life energy. I feel the Kyuubi's but not his. What does that mean?"

"I don't know Sakura but that is what we need you to find out."

Shikamaru entered from the side window and made his way to Naruto's desk. He was drenched from the rain and was looking miserable. He may have been the smartest in the village and the best for negotiations and treaties but that did not make him as fast as a crazed kunoichi. Tsunade was starting to wonder about her choice at making him Hokage.

"These piles of scrolls and papers are all that we found when we broke in. We can't quite understand it. It is all kinds of nonsense. We need you to go through it all and help us make some sense of what he was working on. It would take us weeks to just go through these files, let alone figure it out and I don't think we have that much time."

He pointed to the hourglass that was at the head of the stone altar. The black sands were still running through the fine glass funnel and pooling in a pile below.

"Whatever he did, he put a timer on it. We don't know what will happen when that timer runs out but we need to figure it out. It could be that he wakes up on his own or it could be that he will die. These are the two extremes but the point is that it could be anything. We just don't know. We don't even know if the answer is in these papers, but it is our best shot."

Shikamaru could see the worried look on Sakura's face as she eyed the hourglass. The mention of Naruto dying was meant to motivate her into action but she looked like she was just going to cry again. He watched as she moved closer to him and started to stroke his hair. It was a thing she had picked up when she was watching over him for that week before Sasuke showed up. He took it as a sign that the old Sakura was back.

The young medic pulled away from Naruto and spoke with a determined if somewhat forced voice.

"Well, tears and regret are not going to help him much are they? Let's get to work then!"

To everyone's surprise, Sakura put her hands into a cross formation and called out in a firm voice.

"Shadow clone Technique!"

Two more "Sakuras" appeared in a cloud of smoke and made their way towards the mountain of scrolls on the desk. She had a long night ahead of her and these two would certainly help. One clone picked up a scroll that was marked "Seals for Dummies" while the other found one marked as "The Cult of Sparrow."

"It was one of the last things he taught me to do. He taught it to me as a chakra building exercise but warned me never to make more than two."

There was an air or sad nostalgia in her voice as she explained. Shikamaru and Tsunade just nodded before moving to the desk and picking out a book. This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Naruto stood on his wall as he oversaw the procession of people make their way to the door. They were happy and almost celebrating to be free from the fighting. Some had spent hundreds of years; battling for no reason other than "they started it." It was really cause for celebration that they were no longer needed to fight. The door was wide open and all could go free. It just seemed too good to be true.

Naruto frowned as he watched the masses move through the door. He had not seen Sasuke yet but what he had seen had worried him greatly.

Not everyone had taken to the whole "lay down your weapons and move on" idea as well as he had hoped. The way things were going really was too good to be true and the distrustful eyes of those that neared the door made him wonder. They were smiling and cheering as they made their way to the exit, but in their pockets were hidden knives and paper bombs. The tension between the two sides only grew as both sides needed to walk side by side to exit through the doorway.

It really was a bottleneck and a small spark of hostility could set the fighting off again. It really did not take that long.

A man was a bit too eager to get out and bumped into the guy to his right. It was only a light bump, but it was enough to annoy the other man.

"Hey… Watch it Pal.. Wait your turn!"

"Yeah! there is plenty of time for you and your side to go through! Keep back!"

"Don't tell us to stay back! We have just as much right to go through as you do!"

An argument was brewing as to who had first right to exit through the door. Naruto could not reach it in time to quell it before it spread.

"THEY ARE TRYING TO KEEP US FROM LEAVING!"

"GET THEM AWAY FROM THE DOOR! OUR SIDE SHOULD LEAVE FIRST!"

"STOP THEM! THEY ARE TRYING TO BLOCK THE DOORWAY!"

Suddenly there was a scream as one of the people pulled out his knife to emphasise his point. The act of drawing a knife led to a mad scurry back to the fallen weapons on the ground. The drawing of weapons led to the use of them. War had broken out again. Fighting was so engrained into their way of life now that to do anything but that was foreign. They could not just let it go and move on. Hate had consumed them.

From the crowds of soldiers on either side of the wall, came a barrage of arrows and kunai, each laced with an exploding tag. These projectiles dug themselves into the stone wall that separated the two armies and blew the structure to rubble. As the wall came down beneath Naruto's feet, He jumped from his position and landed on the ground. Naruto stood and watched as his last hope for a peaceful outcome went down in a cloud of dust.

Men and women were already clambering over the rubble in an attempt to kill one another. The contempt in their eyes was palpable and their blades were already moving through the flesh of their opponents. Screams filled the air and the bombardment of projectiles with exploding tags was started again. Fires raged and blood pooled into the ground again.

There was just no way to stop the fighting. He was a fool to try and change Hell. This was a world that was made to bring out the worst in you. A world of suffering and pain.

A swarm of arrows descended on Naruto's position as he got his bearings again. With a swing of his Naginata, he blew away the arrows with a gust of wind. The arrows landed a few feet away from him and Naruto started as he heard the hiss of a paper bomb fuse. He dashed to the side as the great blast destroyed the ground where he was just standing. Shards of rock rained down from the sky, having been blown upwards.

A loud roar came from his left and he turned to see a cluster of men running towards him. The one in the lead thrust his spear at him but Naruto parried it away with his Naginata before twirling around to catch him with the broad side of his blade and flinging the man to the side. Another man jumped behind Naruto with his sword above his head and was just about to swing down when Naruto drew the Naginata back and drove the blunt end of the pole into the man's gut.

The third was a woman and Naruto thought it unfortunate that she would be the first to taste the actual steel of his weapon. He always did hesitate at the thought of harming a woman. He drove the blade into the ground by her feet and pushed down on the end of the pole causing it to bend under the pressure. The woman was drawing her yumi bow when the ground below her gave way and the spring that the pole had, caused the blade to shoot upwards at tremendous speed, cleaving her in two from groin to shoulder.

Her bow fired and the arrow shot past Naruto's neck and killed the next fool that decided to try and take him from behind. Naruto then swung the pole blade in a wide horizontal ark and sprayed the blood of the fifth persons slit throat as the steel edge glided cleanly through.

The pole blade was truly a terrifying weapon in the hands of a master and Naruto was no novice. He had spent thousands of shadow clones, learning the finer arts of weapons training. Tenten had told him that the true masters of a weapon were old men who were self-trained. They had created a pure technique of their own that was individual to them and mastered it, but were too old to use it as they would when they were young and fit.

When a technique was passed on to a student however, even the best teachers could not pass on every detail and so what was passed on was more of the gist of it. This meant that the pure technique was corrupted by a new master and only a fraction of the power that the original creator had achieved. The paradox came in that by the time that the creator had mastered it, he was old and frail. There were no true masters who had ever reached perfection of a style while still being young. Naruto was the exception to the rule though.

He had the ability with his shadow clones to cram fifty years of study and training into just one year. He had lived and trained with his weapon and had made the years of experience into an unstoppable fighting style that not even a sharingan could copy perfectly. With his Naginata in his hands, he could stop armies and dominate countries if he wanted to.

A tingling feeling was on the back of his neck and he closed his eyes in meditation of the style as he swung around and blocked the blade that had been heading for his spine. He opened his eyes and looked into the black irises of his opponent.

"Found you … Sasuke"

* * *

Wow... He found him rather quickly didn't he? Who would have thought that it would be that easy... -insert evil laugh here- ...oh well, I guess we will have to wait to find out what happens next! Thankyou to all my wonderful followers for the reviews and words of encouragement! Thankyou so much you guys and gals!...wait.. are there any girls reading this? eh... who cares. TO THE PARADOX CAVE, ROBIN! -cutscene music-

Please review if you feel moved to do so. I will have you know that I wrote this all in one sitting. There were a lot of cups of tea and even a bag of crisps involved.


	11. Breaking Down

YO! ParadoxPhilosopher is BACK with a thrilling addition to the story. a new chapter is here with special thanks to my good friend "Gold Testament" who sent me an email telling me to get my but in gear and write a new chapter because he was bored. This one is for you man! ON TO THE STORY!

* * *

Breaking Down.

* * *

As she turned another page in her book, she let out a sigh. This was going nowhere fast. Even with two shadow clones, she had only made it through five books in the past hour and the presence of an hourglass with black sand was not helping her nerves. Every second that passed was a second wasted. Every moment, the chances of finding the answer in these scrolls and books were getting slimmer and slimmer. Turning another page, her eyes scanned the writing for any reference as to the current situation.

This book was about reincarnation. That if a person was good or bad depended on what their next life would be like. Some pages referred to an aspect of fate. That it did not matter what you did, your next life was already determined. You could be a great person and still wind up as a dung beetle.

As fascinating as this was, Sakura skimmed through the pages before putting the book aside and reached for a scroll this time. As the scroll opened and she read the title, a vein ticked in on her forehead. "The Philosophy of Rats" was not what she wanted either.

Taking a quick moment to look around the room, she saw that her clones were having as little luck as she was. One was sitting on the floor in the corner with a pile of books and looked to have finished seven already. Her second clone was pacing back and forth with a scroll and scratching its head before moving back to the wall that was covered in diagrams of seals.

Tsunade was by Naruto's side and taking his vital signs again. She was a doctor first and Hokage second after all. Paperwork was not her forte but everything she learnt about his condition was bound to help in one way or another.

Shikamaru was sitting in his "thinking position" and watching the hourglass as the black crystals fell through the glass funnel. His eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to figure out what the hourglass did. He too was not the best at paperwork and much better at deducing from watching his surroundings. He was no slouch when it came to documents though, he just prioritized finding out how much time was left so he could best manage it to give them the best chances.

Shino was at the door and keeping guard for anyone who might come along. Naruto was defenceless right now and having a great sensor type guarding the entrance to the building was vital. Naruto's condition was NOT to become public knowledge at this time. They had to deal with one problem at a time and Naruto came first and the possibility of well-wishers or "Monster Hunters" finding out and turning up would not be tolerated.

As she turned back to the scroll in her possession, another sigh came from Sakura as she sat at Naruto's desk. Many questions were going through her mind. Where did Naruto get all of these scroll and books from? How did he have time to read them all? And most importantly, What did he hope to accomplish?

She was broken from her thoughts as Shikamaru announced his findings.

"At the rate that the sand is falling through the glass and from the volume that the top half contains, I believe that Naruto made a time limit of twenty-four hours. However, from the time that we have spent looking through the books and scroll and how long it took for us all to get here, we only have twenty-two and a half hours left."

Sakura looked at her clones with worry at the progress that was being made. So far, they had only gone through eighteen and there were close to a thousand books and scrolls. Even if each Sakura went through seven books an hour, by the time they had found what they were looking for, it would be too late. To make matters worse, they did not even know what they were looking for. All they had to go one were lines of burnt salt on the floor in a circle, a comatose Naruto that looked to be getting weaker as time went on, and a creepy altar with symbols in the stone that no one could figure out. There had to be a better way.

Sakura stood up from her desk and moved over towards Shikamaru and shoved a scroll in his hands. Her intentions were clear and if they were not then she made them clearer.

"Stop your Zen style thinking and read this!"

Shikamaru just shook his head as he opened the scroll. He too was having the same thoughts. There simply was not enough time. He questioned if he could slow down the timer with his shadow possession technique but without knowing how it all worked, it was too great a risk. Even Naruto had to have some way of keeping track of what he had read and what was useless. His walls were covered in documents and diagrams; his desk was flooded with books and scrolls. Surely he could not have remembered everything he had read.

Putting down the scroll and getting up from his seat by Naruto's head, he started to toss through the piles of books. Sakura watched him toss through the stacks of research with irritation.

"What are you looking for Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru just gave a groan before lifting up another book and flicking through it.

"I am looking for his progress log. He must have had one if he did all of this research. Naruto has put far too much effort and planning into this for him to risk forgetting something in all of this. He must have written down what he had read and what he thought of it. There has to be a book here that dictates what he was looking for and what he found. If we find that, then we can forget about going through each book one by one and just focus on the ones that he thought were promising."

Sakura gave him an incredulous look. Was Naruto really that well organised?

"You can't be serious. Naruto was never organised. Just look at this place! It is a mess!"

"Did you stop to think about how it got this way Sakura? How he got all of these books and scrolls without us knowing?"

Sakura stopped for a moment and took a look around herself. She had honestly thought that this was all just part of Naruto having been declared the new seal master and had borrowed them from the Hokage's personal library.

"What do you mean? That these books didn't come from our catacombs?"

The young Hokage just looked around himself at the mountains of paper.

"Sakura… Naruto only borrowed five scrolls from our catacomb. I have no idea how or where he got the rest from. There is no possible way that he could have got all of these locally."

"I think I know how he did it." Shino spoke from the shadows.

All eyes turned to him as he began to explain his theory.

"It was his shadow clones. He must have used thousands of them to travel the countryside and gather information. That is how I use my bugs to find what I am looking for. It is not because I am highly sensitive like Kiba's nose or because I can see great distances like Hinata. I can sense things because I have millions of bugs doing the ground work for me. I have them literally everywhere and each one of them gives me a tiny view of the world that I cannot see. I have a hive mind and all of my bugs are connected. Just like Naruto and his shadow clones."

Shikamaru nodded at this theory. It was plausible, and with the power of sage mode and the Kyuubi, who knew how many clones Naruto could make?

"He would be capable of such a thing, after all, he was using the same technique around the village too."

Sakura raised an eyebrow at this and was going to make Shikamaru explain that one.

"What do you mean he was using it around the village? What are you not telling me?!"

Shikamaru gulped and was about to slap his forehead at his stupidity. Of all the people in the room, Sakura was the one who was least informed about what had been going on with Naruto in the past month. He just hoped that she would not over react like she had when he turned up at her doorstep.

"You have seen Naruto around town, right?"

"Yeah?" Sakura nodded.

"Well that wasn't him."

"WHAT?! But I saw him! Well… maybe not myself but everyone did! It was like he was everywhere! Partying at the clubs, hanging out with Hinata, eating ramen at Ichiraku. I even heard he was doing his laundry down at the Laundromat! We went on a date today!"

Shino stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"We believe that he flooded the village with fake Naruto's to give the impression that he was fine and out and about while he was really in hiding. He was really in here by himself for the last month, working on whatever this all is. If he had shadow clones scouring the country for all of this information, then he really would not have had the energy to be out of this room. He had also placed a seal around him so that no one could get in and even the Byakugan could not see in."

The news was terrifying to Sakura, she felt hurt that Naruto would fool her like that. That he would go so far as to cut himself off from the world… and from her. But he had a damn good reason to cut himself off from her. Now that she really thought about it, it was really no surprise at all that Naruto would isolate himself from her. But why would he hide himself from the world? From his friends? Did he really not trust them? And why did his friends let him do it?

"Why?...Why did you leave him alone in here Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru hesitated. He had already been on the receiving end of an enraged Hyuuga. He did not want to infuriate the previous Hokage's apprentice.

"WHY SHIKAMARU!? TELL ME WHY YOU LEFT HIM ALONE IN THIS SHITHOLE FOR A WHOLE MONTH!"

"It.. it was my order to leave him alone… I thought he would be fine. He showed no signs of doing anything. I made the call to leave him to sort out his own problems." Shikamaru stated.

"You left him alone after he was emotionally destroyed in an isolated shithole while he flaunted how happy he was outside in the village… and all this time you KNEW he was in here suffering!?

"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TOLD HIM TO GO TO HELL AND THAT HE WAS A MONSTER! DON'T BLAME ME FOR THIS! I MADE THE CALL TO LEAVE HIM ALONE BECAUSE I KNEW I COULD NOT HELP HIM! YOU LEFT HIM TO HIS OWN DEVICES TOO! DO NOT FORGET YOUR ROLE IN THIS EITHER!" Shikamaru snarled. He was the Hokage and would not be spoken down to like that.

Sakura was shaking with rage and grabbed Shikamaru by his Hokage robes.

"I MADE A MISTAKE, DAMN IT! IF I COULD TAKE IT BACK THEN I WOULD! I WOULD TAKE EVERYTHING BACK!" Sakura screamed, but it was more pained than angered now. A deep suffering was rising to the surface and she could not hide it.

"….so would I…" Shikamaru whispered.

Sakura looked at the man in her grasp and saw not the great village leader anymore but her friend and Naruto's friend, hiding the same pain that she was.

"I stayed out of Naruto's affairs because I can't seem to do much that is right by him. The first order as Chunnin when we went to get Sasuke back and Naruto comes out the worst of all of us. Then when we went up against Hidan and Kakuzu and Naruto was almost killed by his own jutsu. Then there was the whole incident with the war that I tried to keep him out of it and again he almost dies. I was part of the vote that made him the master of the Jyuubi and he almost dies again. Finally I hear that he has barricaded himself up in his home and I decide that I will let him make his own choices. Every decision I make when it concerns him, always puts him in a near death state."

Shikamaru grimaced as a few tears came down his cheek.

"YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO MAKES MISTAKES SAKURA!"

Sakura let him go and he slid to the floor in a huddle, burying his head in his knees.

Lady Tsunade moved forward to Shikamaru's side and pulled him to his feet. She clasped hold of his shoulders and made him look her in the eye.

"Shikamaru. You are the Hokage and you will have to make tough decisions in your time as leader but you cannot let these things get you down. I was the one who ordered Jiraiya, my own team mate, to seek out the Akatsuki base in the hidden rain. His death still weighs heavy on my mind but I have to keep going to keep those that he died for, safe. Naruto is not dead and you can still save him."

Tsunade then looked to Sakura.

"You both can save him. We still have some time so let's find this log book and save this knucklehead from the mess he got himself into. Are you with me?"

It was short and simple. It was not the great battle speech that could inspire an army, but it was what both of them needed to hear.

"Hai..Hokage-sama."

And with that, Both Sakura and Shikamaru started to search through the piles of books, together.

* * *

"Found you… Sasuke"

Black eyes locked onto the focused blue and the contempt for one another was heavy in the air.

"Uzumaki… I thought I was finally done with you! I thought I could finally get away from you! WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"

A small smile crept onto the blonde man's face as he began to apply more pressure on his weapon.

"It is the same reason as last time, Sasuke. I am here to save you and take you home."

"I DON'T NEED TO BE SAVED! YOU IDIOT!"

"Heh... That is good. It means that half the job is done. " a devious smile was on Naruto's face, he was not going to fail this time.

"I am not going back to the Leaf Village! I am dead and I will never go back, even if I could!"

The smile dropped from Naruto's face and the look in his eyes gave off a cold chill. Something was different about him this time and Sasuke knew that he had better not play around.

"I was not asking you to come back Sasuke. I am telling you..."

Naruto quickly brought the butt of his pole blade up and struck Sasuke in the stomach causing him to lose all breath that he may have had.

"YOU"

He then swung the blade downwards and crashed it onto the back of Sasuke's sword, driving the blade into the ground.

"ARE!"

With both weapons buried in the ground, he pivoted on his pole blade and pushed himself into the air and kicked Sasuke in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground a few feet away from his sword.

"GOING!"

Naruto pulled the Naginata from the ground and trudged menacingly towards Sasuke while dragging his fearsome weapon on the ground behind him slowly, ready to strike him down again should he refuse to cooperate. His eyes were cover by his blonde locks and the aura that the blonde was releasing was absolutely stifling

"…home."

Sasuke looked up in fear at the man standing before him. What was this monster? Naruto was never this hate filled. Never this ruthless. Never this terrifying. It was like he was under the influence of the Kyuubi's rage, but he was calm and in control… and infinitely more powerful. For the first time in a long time, Sasuke knew that he could not defeat this opponent. He had been trapped in this world of war for over twenty years and was one of the greatest warriors. His name was feared by those who faced him and sharingan or not, he was unbeatable.

Now, with the dark visage of his former best friend, towering over him as he cowered on the ground, only one thought came to mind…Run!

Sasuke was up on his feet in a blur and leapt back a few metres. He raised his arm in the air and swung it down towards Naruto as he gave the order to those who followed him.

"KILL HIM!"

Over the fallen rubble of Naruto's wall came the cry of a million blood thirsty warriors that followed Sasuke's command. The hordes of soldiers began their charge towards the one opponent who stood stock still, Naginata still resting lightly on the ground.

"You cannot hide behind your men Sasuke… I am a Jinchuuriki. We are breed for war and we live for war."

Naruto's cold whispers reached only the ears of the Uchiha and another icy chill went down his spine and shook him to his core. What the hell had happened back in the land of the living to make Naruto think like that? He was always the voice of joy and happiness. He may have been a Jinchuuriki but he never truly embraced its darker purpose.

Naruto drove his feet into the ground and the earth shook from just his change in posture. A blue light started to encircle the mighty war sage as he started to roar. Lifting up his weapon, he swung it hard into the ground and caused the earth to split open and a great chasm to appear. The world shook and the screams were heard as many soldiers fell into the great pit.

Pulling the great blade from the ground again, Naruto opened his eyes and stared at those around him. He could hear their hearts beat and see the fear in their eyes. Some were shaking and the rattle from their old and rusted weapons were audible in the deathly silence that had come over the battle field.

"You cannot kill me, Sasuke. I am the weapon that this world has forged me to be. I was raised in the fires of hate. I was forged by the hammers of those that tried to destroy me. And I was quenched in the cold waters of isolation. I AM THE DEMON OF THE LEAF AND I AM HERE FOR YOUR SOUL! SASUKE!"

In the blink of an eye, Naruto disappear. The world was silent again and all who were still present held their breath out of fear. All had their eyes wide open and looked franticly around for where the demon would appear.

A single whisper from their general, the Uchiha, was all the warning they received.

"..oh shit.."

And then the screaming started again.

* * *

Sakura and Shikamaru were going through the pile or books a second time and they still had not found the log that Naruto had written. Time was growing shorter and shorter. In frustration, Sakura threw her hands in the air and let out and exasperated groan.

"It is not here!"

Shikamaru was placing his fingers to the bridge of his nose and trying to think. It just didn't make sense. There had to be a log! It was not possible to remember all of the information in all of these books. Even a list of what he had read and what he had not read would have been necessary. Shikamaru was the smartest in the village with his father being a close second. Even He could not remember what books he had read if they were not placed in a separate pile.

"It HAS to be here! He had to have kept some kind of notes to keep track of all of this!"

Sakura just shook her head as she headed back to her desk.

"It is not here Shikamaru. We have wasted enough time already just looking for something that might not even exist. We should just go back to reading the books again, one by one." Her voice was dejected. The thought of finding a log like that was just too good to be true.

Sakura sat down again on her chair and pulled up the next book. Reading medical journals were far more interesting than having to sift through millennia of philosophical writings about the afterlife. The next book she was reading was entitled "Quantum Astro-navigational Physics and You!" and it depicted how the tiniest changes in the universe could cause great change to how the world operated.

Sakura was at the point of defeat and let her head hit the desk with a thud. How was Naruto able to read this crap?! Even she could not tolerate it and she was a book worm!

As the thud of her head reverberated through the desk, a small brown book fell to the floor from under the desk. Tsunade was the first to spot it.

"Sakura? What is that by your feet?" The medic asked curiously.

"Huh?" Sakura responded as she looked down at the small leather bound book.

Picking up the book, she cringed at the title. Only Naruto could have come up with such a thing as this.

"THE ULTRA SUPER SECRETIVE BOOK OF UZUMAKI TESTED AND APPROVED RAMEN RECIPIES!"

Sakura was about to open it and see if it really wasn't a joke when a voice yelled at her.

"DON'T OPEN IT!"

Sakura almost dropped the book out of fright and all eyes turned to the shadowy figure standing in the doorway of the apartment.

"Do not… open… that book."

"Neji!? WHAT THE HELL MAN!" Shikamaru yelled but stopped when he saw his Byakugan was activated. Clearly Neji saw something that they could not.

As Neji closed out the still raging storm behind him, he walked over to Sakura and pulled out a kunai from his hip holster. Taking the book from the still dumbfound pinkette, he carefully moved the blade to the corner of the book and slid it between the pages.

"This book is booby-trapped with a paper bomb, hidden with a genjutsu… and it has… quite literally..."

The sharp blade carefully sliced through the golden strand that was held in place along the cover of the book.

"…A hair trigger."

Sakura was astounded that a ramen recipe book would be so heavily protected, in fact, it was too heavily protected. Naruto liked his ramen but had told her that it was not his favourite food. This was another thing about Naruto that made her feel special to him. He trusted her with things like that… or at least, he used to.

Shikamaru took the book from Neji and flicked through it quickly before sighing. It really was just a recipe book. Was Naruto so crazy to guard a ramen recipe with deadly force? He would never understand how the man operated. Closing the book, he handed it back to Sakura.

"It is useless, just a bunch of recipes. What a pain in the ass."

Sakura then gave the book a light scrutiny and Shikamaru was indeed right. It was just a bunch of recipes, but something was odd about this little notebook. Neji also seemed to pick up on this and watched closely as Sakura went through the book, page by page. As each page turned, a crinkle appeared in Sakura's nose and a frown deepened on her face.

"This can't be right."

"What is it?" Neji questioned.

"It is the recipes. The title says that these are tested and approved by Naruto but that doesn't match up with half of these."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you were to follow this recipe then you would get a very bland texture in the noodles and there is far too much Dashi in it. Also, I know that Naruto is actually allergic to this type of pepper that is mentioned in this one! These recipes don't match what Naruto likes or even what he CAN eat!"

Neji placed his finger to his chin as a thought came to his mind.

"Could this book be a fake? That would explain why it was highly guarded. Maybe the book contains something else."

"Maybe, but it is hard to tell what it could be. Can you see any chakra in the pages Neji?"

Neji activated his blood line trait again for a moment.

"No, I don't see any chakra but there looks to be something else on the pages. Something that is organic."

Shikamaru had once again, gained interest in this little book and was now moving over the desk with a candle and his cigarette lighter.

"Can I have the book for a moment? I think I know what is on those pages."

Sakura was about to hand the book over until she saw the young Hokage light the candle.

"What are you planning on doing with Naruto's book?" she asked suspiciously. Naruto went to great lengths to protect what was in these pages, she was not about to hand over his secrets to anyone. For some reason, she had become very territorial over Naruto's property in his absence.

"I am going to test for invisible ink. Naruto trained under a spy master for three years. You don't think he would not have learnt a trick or two? Invisible ink is made by mixing any organic material with water and is only visible under heat. Give the page a lick and tell me if you taste anything."

Sakura looked at Shikamaru like he had lost his natural mind. He was asking her to lick a book?! That was among the more crazy things she had been asked to do, but never the less she licked a page and to her surprise, found it to be salty and tasted like…

"Ramen broth?" She questioned.

Shikamaru took the book from her and carefully held it over the naked flame of the candle.

"I didn't expect it to be ramen broth but I guess that it would work and it is in theme with the book."

The book began to smoke in his hands and he pulled it away from the flames before fanning it in the room. Opening the book, all three saw the letters in the book start to change. At the forming of the first line on the pages, Sakura snatched the book from the two men and pulled it close to her. She had caught a glimpse of what it had said and knew that only those who were part of team seven should read it. It was really unfair on the others since they clearly knew more about Naruto's present state than she did, but she had to know what was happening with Naruto and she had to know that his real secrets would be safe. Before the whole mess with Sasuke, she was sure that Naruto had shared everything with her but after seeing the first line of this book, she was not so sure now.

Shikamaru and Neji seemed to understand the look that they both received when the words started to change. Sakura was looking out for Naruto's best interests and was going to keep them informed with what she had found out, but she was only going to tell them what they absolutely needed to know.

Sitting down in the corner of the room near Naruto, she opened the book again and began to read the most horrifying book she would ever read in her life.

"_Everything that they know about me is a lie…"_

She had not imagined that first line, this truly was going to be an eye opener_. _Who was Naruto if he was not Naruto?

* * *

For years he had supressed his pain and suffering. For over a decade he had just smiled and taken the beating that was bestowed upon him. He could never allow himself a single dark thought or moment of pure hatred, less he awaken the sleeping demon that lay inside of him. An elemental beast that had sought to destroy him and everything he had loved. Now however, He was outside of his body and the beast was still sealed away in his mortal shell.

He could finally feel hate without having to suppress it to keep the Kyuubi at bay. He could scream in rage at the world without red chakra coursing through him and blinding him to what he was doing. He could kill without fear of harming someone that he cared about. Finally, after 16 years of torture and suffering, he could get some kind of release and strike back… And man did it feel good.

He was a blur among these fools that dared to stand in his way. Every hit that was laid upon him and every broken bone that he suffered at the hands of those he protected, was now being paid back on these immortal enemies. Every scar he received and every curse word that had been yelled at him was finally able to be returned without fear of a demon breaking loose. There were so many scars on his mortal body that it was becoming impossible for him to move without Kurama numbing the pain. The years of torture and poverty, humiliation and scorn, hatred directed at the innocence of a child, all of it was now at the surface and breaking forth in wave after wave of painful memories.

The more he slaughtered, the more memories of his traumatic childhood were brought to the surface but it was never ending. There were just so many painful experiences that he had suffered at the hands of those he was sworn to protect. He could never retaliate while he was bound to Kurama in his body. Even the slightest thought of really harming someone was dangerous.

And all the while, the cowards back in his village had clubbed, stabbed, poisoned, burnt, impaled, cut, hacked, shot him with arrows and abused him for what they believed he was. They called him the Monster that took away their families. The called him the demon that had killed their loved one. They did all of this while forgetting that he was none of those things and that the real demon and monster was trapped inside this innocent child.

This child was innocent no more. The people of his village had treated him like a demon and in return, had created one. He was their living weapon and now he was free to do as they had taught him far too well.

* * *

Sasuke's face was white as he closed his eyes in fear. He was cowering behind some rouble as the screams of those who followed him were getting louder and louder. He gathered enough courage to peak over what was left of the stone wall that he was hiding behind and saw the carnage that was being unleashed.

Naruto was a ghost in the masses. He moved so fast and with such ferocity that the cries of the devil on the battlefield would not have been an exaggeration. Naruto had not used a single shadow clone and he had already killed half of his army. The arrows would rain down upon him and he would just swat them away. Any person stupid enough to raise a weapon against him was cut down before they had even taken a single step and those who ran were torn, limb from limb by his bare hands. The screams of the dying were only drowned out by the pained and terrifying roars that Naruto was making.

The most terrifying thing that Sasuke could see what that this was all Naruto and he was not influenced by the Kyuubi one bit. Spools of devils wire were attached to kunai and shuriken and swirled around in a cyclone of steely death. The blades would fly out and penetrate the torso of the fleeing victims before being pulled back like a fish on a hook into the swishing mincer of flying wires. It was then that Naruto made two shadow clones and the massacre tripled. All three Naruto's dispersed into the masses.

Two of the Naruto's started to weave in and out of the people, leaving them untouched until they heard the hiss of exploding tags on their backs. The bellowing of those with only seconds to live caused panic as these unwilling suicide bombers ran towards their friends for help, unable to reach the paper strips on their back, and caught their friends in the blast as well.

One poor fool had run towards Sasuke and was screaming for his help.

"SASUKE-SAMA! SAVE ME! SAVE ME! PLEASE!"

Tears were running down the man's face as he clawed his way over the rubble pile and dove beside Sasuke in a futile attempt to save his life. Sasuke tried to crawl away from the desperate man but the man was persistent in his attempts to get close to his idol.

Sasuke proceeded to kick the man as hard as he could to try and get him as far away from him as possible but the man still clawed to Sasuke's leg and cried for salvation. Sasuke would offer no such assistance though and soon the timer would run out on the exploding tag and both were incinerated in seconds.

Sasuke woke up at the starting point and found himself surrounded by those who had followed him through many years of constant war. All of them were standing completely still and none of them had dared to even look at a weapon. None of them were going to fight against the Demon of the Leaf and not even Sasuke could make them.

"GET MOVING YOU COWARDS! STAND AND FIGHT!"

A great explosion was heard from the centre of the battlefield and a dust cloud rose to the sky. As the great blast ended and the dust began to settle, the world of war was for the first time… deathly quiet.

* * *

As the shadow clones ran out of paper bombs and dissipated, Naruto dropped his devil's wire and began to swing his Naginata again. The rage and pain was intolerable and the more he killed, the worse it would get. His screams of anguish at a life of neglect and suffering only left him more hollow. It would seem that nothing could take away the pain.

Everything he felt was just too much. His abusive childhood at the hands of the Hyuuga Clan. Mizuki's attempted murder of him while making Naruto take the wrap for stealing a scroll. Kakashi's neglect after the bell test when they left him tied to a post for three days. Sakura's violence towards him and hatred for even existing. Sasuke's betrayal of them when he left to join Orochimaru. Jiraiya's neglect in his training as well. His return to Konoha. Gaara's death. The botched Sasuke retrieval. Asuma's death. Jiraiya's death. The Pein invasion. Hinata's death. Sakura's false confession. The truth about Itachi. The Great War where so many died. Neji's death and Killer B's when he had his demon sucked out of him. And then finally, Sasuke's death and Sakura finally revealing what she truly thought about him.

There was just so much sadness that he could not express. So much pain that he had felt. Though many people had been revived, including Neji, Hinata and even Killer B, the nightmares just would not go away.

With a final roar, He put everything he had into one final swing of his pole blade. He brought the butt of the pole down and stabbed the ground with all his might and the great shockwave blasted out and knocked everything that was around him back.

When the dust settled, silence was all that he could hear as he stood in the massive crater he had just made. His hands trembled as they slid gently on the pole as he fell to his knees. He covered his mouth with his hand to muffle the sob that was trying to escape. His eyes stung and became blurry as his shoulders began to shake. Was this really what he was? Without the Kyuubi, was he really the demon that they had all feared? He did not want to be this way but it just hurt so damn much.

Even after having exacted some kind of revenge, he felt no better, instead he felt worse. He just wanted it all to go away and for the pain to stop. He wanted to be free from this world and be done with those that had turned on him. It was just too much to try so hard and for it all to mean nothing in the end.

Pulling himself to his feet, he gently removed his Naginata from the soft ground and dried his eyes. He had a time limit here and crying would get him nowhere. One more task to complete. One last mission. And maybe after all of that was done, God willing, He could finally rest.

As he trudged up the embankment of the crater, he was met by a group of warriors at the top. All of them had thrown down their arms and were on their knees before him. Fear was still present in their eyes but a glimmer of hope was there as well. As Naruto approached them, they began to move away and reveal their "offering" in hopes that the Demon of the Leaf would leave them be.

Sasuke was bound and gagged with leather straps and was struggling under his bindings. He screamed as Naruto approached and wriggled like a worm on the ground, trying to get away.

Naruto simply smiled at the gesture that these people were making. He had not intended to have a complete psychological breakdown while in Hell but he guessed that it came with the territory. He was really quite embarrassed about it and made a vow to not be so foolish again. He was done spilling blood and now he only had the goal to make the trip out of here with Sasuke.

Naruto looked at the Tattoo on his wrist of the hourglass. He had been here a total of two hours and he guessed he had a long way to go yet. From his research before he arrived, he had come to believe that Hell was in fact a total of seven realms. Each one was based off a desire that could keep a man from heaven and this was only the first one.

As he knelt down and picked up the Sasuke-worm, he turned to those that were still standing by him.

"Thank you" was all he said before strapping the Uchiha to his back and marching towards the great door and disappearing beyond it.

* * *

Ok guys and girls. Naruto is not evil in this story and will not become evil. This was his stress relief after a really shit life on people who could not die and would be fine, and it is also explaining the reason why he was very complacent in previous chapters. he can't be evil because the Kyuubi would take over. Much like an alcoholic can't have a single drop or a gambler cant play just one game of cards.

Coming up later.. what is in the mysterious book? what lies beyond the doors of the first realm? Will Naruto make it in time? And what will Sasuke do if he gets back to the land of the living?

Review if you feel like it. I love hearing your thoughts and ideas but please keep it constructive. thankyou.


	12. Heaven Is So Far Away

Paradox Philosopher here with the next chapter. Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. I have actually been shifting house and that is why I have been gone for a month. Do not fear my friends. I WILL finish this story. It will have an ending and I will not cancel it.

* * *

Heaven is so Far away

Sakura was flicking through the pages faster and faster. The more she read, the greater her concerns for her fallen comrade. This small leather-bound journal was his life story. His autobiography of every day of his life. Some days were great and filled with happiness but most were about his struggle to survive and the changing beliefs that he had. Beliefs about why he existed and what his purpose was in this world. For a child without family and hated by all, such questions of his origins were only natural. The answers he was finding though only left her cold.

She stopped at a page which began to speak of his troubles while just going home.

"_I was seven years old at the time. Still just a child. I was making my way home when I turned into the back alley to get there. It was autumn and the leaves were turning brown and falling from the trees. As I neared a pile of garbage by an intersection, I heard a noise coming from the shadows. At first I thought it was just a cat or even just one of the rats that scurry down to the sewers. I should have just kept walking. I should have just closed my eyes and ran. I should have done many things. How foolish I was._

_The noises came from a group of men, breaking into a back window and carrying out a large painting from the property. These men were clearly thieves and I felt the urge to tell the Uchiha Police Force but what struck me was that they were already there. Just standing and watching. I did not understand why the Uchiha would let someone get away with such a blatant act of theft when I was thrown into a holding cell for three days when they caught me stealing a loaf of bread._

_The painting that was being carried out was ugly and looked nothing like what I thought was a tree. As I turned to leave, I tripped over a can by the garbage pile and fell. It was not one of my better moments. Before I could hit the ground, they were already upon me._

_My face was pushed to the dirt and I could feel the knee in my back and the cool kiss of steel under my throat. I tried to struggle but was met with a hard blow to my side. They screamed at me. Asked me what I had seen. I was so scared that I actually pissed myself. _

_One of the men roared at me and kicked me in the side for dirtying his shoes. Then the beating started again and all I could do was hold my arms close around me to protect my face. When they grew tired, they started to talk. The general idea was to kill me and cover it up by throwing me in an unmarked grave. Not that creative but my opinion was not needed right then. _

_Then one of them came up with a "great idea." Why let me rot in a grave when they could make some money? Sell me as a slave to someone. Even cheap labour at one of the local mines could get them something but they had to wipe my mind first. I was still sore from the beating when they pulled me onto my back and held me down. I knew what they were going to do and shut my eyes tight._

_A sudden pain hit my side as a kunai blade slid into my flesh. I cried out in agony but a hand over my mouth muffled my screams. My eyes were wide open as they twisted the blade and it was then that I saw it for the first time. Those damn red eyes. The Sharingan."_

Since the end of the war, it had become common knowledge that the Uchiha were planning a coup d'etat but how they were financing this coup had always been a mystery. Many had thought that they intended to pay for their weapons with their own savings. If Naruto's journal was correct and the police were stealing from the people of Konoha, then that could explain how they became so well off. A person who was robbed by the police would have no one to report to and to go to the hokage would risk yourself to having your mind scrambled beyond repair by a Sharingan Genjutsu.

"_When I awoke, I found myself in a cage too small for even a dog. The room was dark and only a small sliver of light found its way in through a crack in the wall. I pulled against the bars and tried to cry out for help but the knife wound in my side was still fresh. The bleeding had stopped again like it always did but like so many other wounds I had received, the scar would never fade away._

_The crack in the wall opened and I was blinded by the wall of light that tore into my sensitive eyes. Two figures entered the room. One was a man with white eyes and long black hair. He was easily identified as nobility by his smell. They always wore fancy perfumes so they did not stink like the commoners. Pious bastards, the lot of them. Beside him was a small child. Timid and shy. She too, had those white eyes._

_A bucket of ice water was thrown onto me and the bitter sting on the cold hit the wound to my side. I cried out in shock and gasped for air. The next words I heard would stay with me for the rest of my time in that cage._

"This Creature is yours now Hinata. As future ruler of the clan, you must learn responsibility and having a pet should do you some good. You will feed it. Give it water. And when it misbehaves, you will punish it."

_The man then moved his hands together and interlocked his fingers. My forehead started to burn and oh God, did it burn. I threw my face into the cold water that still puddled at the bottom of my enclosure but the burning would not stop. I screamed loudly as my body contorted in pain. It felt like a Raiton jutsu but the effect was so intense that I could only call it liquid fire in my veins. The man pulled his hands apart and I fell to the floor. As I opened my eyes again and saw my reflection in the waters, I saw strange green markings on my forehead. This had not been there the day before. Darkness overcame me and I fell into a dreamless sleep."_

Sakura's eyes were like saucers as she put the pieces together. This was the dark secret that Hinata was talking about. This was the Hyuuga clan horror. Naruto was a slave to the Hyuuga. A pet to Hinata and was adorned with the branch family curse mark.

_The next few days I could say were enjoyable. The small girl I came to know as Hyuuga-Hime. She would visit me in my cage every day. I told her that my side still hurt but she could not see any marks. She would bandage it just the same. She would talk to me as if I was a dog but that was still a step up from demon. Eventually I was let out of the cage and we would play on the Hyuuga Manor, though I was always kept on a leash and collar. She would give me baths and take me for walks. I didn't mind so much because for once I felt I didn't need to watch my back while I slept and had a meal to eat in the afternoon._

_Then came the day that Hyuuga-Hime started to train with her Dad. This was when things started to change. I learnt quickly that nobles are strange people. They have a different idea of what is right and wrong. I also learnt that I was not purchased to be a pet. I was purchased to be a whipping boy. As Hinata trained, for every mistake she made, I would receive the beating in her stead. You can not lay a finger on a Nobleman's daughter, so you punish her whipping boy. My back was lined from the lashes and blood would seep from my scars and stain the ground. _

_Eventually, Hinata got things right, but by that time, I was a bleeding mess .She would try to tend to my wounds and try to make things better but soon it became too much for her. She would scream at me that I had none and I was just faking it. The more I cried in pain, the angrier she became. Her father heard her screams at me and told her that I was misbehaving and that I should be punished. She obeyed her father and activated the Caged Bird Seal on my forehead and kept it up until I passed out from screaming._

_After that day, Hinata spent less time with me. I was never let out of my caged and meals were just a distant memory of what once was. I would still receive the beatings as Hinata's whipping boy but I learnt that if I cried out in pain, then I would just invoke a harsher beating. Then came the day that would define me for the rest of my life. I started to lie about how I felt. I donned the stupid smile of the fool and danced to whatever tune they wanted me to dance to. I held in my pain and never winced while they brought that bloody chain down on my back."_

_It was foolish of me to think that I was making a difference in my condition. The truth was that no one cared for my pain. I made my foolish grin in protest of the bitter hell they tried to suppress me under. Every lie was an act of defiance and my hatred grew for them every day._

_And then one day it all stopped._

_At first I thought I just could not sleep and the night went on forever. In my caged in the underground room where the only light came from the crack between the door and the wall, I was forgotten about. I don't know how long it was that I was left alone in the dark. As I waited for something to change, I was given time to re-evaluate where I stood in this world._

_I was the hated demon of the leaf. I was the whipping boy for not just the Nobles but also for the masses. I was sold into slavery for the handsome sum of 10 ryou. I was forgotten about by my first friend and left to starve and die in a cage, hidden from the world. If I should leave my cage and escape then where would I go? I was not human. A human would have died by now from either the beatings or from starvation or dying of thirst. I was an immortal with no escape from life._

_And then the day came when The light broke into my dark world again and I was rediscovered by a housemaid who had been sent to find the source of the stench consuming the basement. My limp body was dragged out into the sun and left on the street with the common garbage. Right back where the Uchiha had tried to wipe my mind. Back where it all started. Just 8 months later."_

Sakura was close to screaming in fury and crying in sorrow. Whether they knew it or not, the Hyuuga had destroyed a child. How Naruto had survived so long was beyond her. Just reading his story though made her realise that even now, He had not fully healed from this ordeal.

"_I started to wear my mask of the fool in everything I did. Every time I was spat on. Every slur that was spoken about me. I soon found that I was doing it without thinking and I actually wanted to believe the fantasy of happiness I had created for myself. That I was untouchable in every way. It was not long until I met Hinata again in the street. She had simply forgotten about me. Show me a seven year old from nobility that can actually take care of a pet, let alone a living was just a child who was forced into things by her father. She said she was sorry and I think she may have meant it too. As a way of trying to make things right, she paid for a pair of goggles that I could wear over my forehead to hide the Caged Bird Seal. I also asked her why she could not see my scars when she asked how I was fully healed. In fact, No one could see my scars. It was a few years later when I met the Kyuubi that I discovered the reason for my survival. And why only I could see my wounds."_

Sakura turned the next page and was irate to find that the story stopped there. She wanted to know about Naruto's scars. She wanted to know how he survived. She wanted to know what the hell he was doing lying on an altar in a comatose state! She did however, find a list of scrolls that Naruto had deemed worthless and handed that page to her clone to be sorted out. The list was only twenty-three titles but it was still books that they could rule out.

In irritation, she turned the next page and started reading this horror story again.

* * *

The package on his back just would not stop moving and fidgeting. Naruto had only been walking for five minutes through the passage way to the next room and Sasuke was already annoying the crap out of him. With a groan, He stopped and rolled his shoulders. The weight on his back was not doing him any good.

As he moved to rearrange the straps that held the bound Sasuke to his back, Sasuke jerked to the left roughly and caused one of the straps to break. It started off as a slow slide but turned into a quick drop as Sasuke dropped to the ground, hard. Quickly his hands were free and he reefed the gag from his mouth.

"Damn you, Naruto! Let me OUT OF THIS THING!"

Naruto made a quick slash with his Naginata to cut the bonds around Sasuke's body before quickly tying his hands together and holding onto a cord to keep him from running.

"I don't want you getting any ideas, Sasuke. You remember what happened the last time you ran from me. Things got a little crazy and I had to use this."

With his words out in the open, Sasuke visibly cringed. It would be many years before he forgot what this blonde demon could do with just wire and a shuriken. The horrors of the deathly blade would not be forgotten either. Such frightening use of steel would surely haunt his sleep, if he ever had any after all of this.

Naruto looked at the hourglass tattoo on his arm again and then started to pull on the cord to lead Sasuke. Time was of great value right now. He did not want to get to the final stretch and miss his chance to return the lost avenger by just ten minutes.

As the two warriors reached the end of the passageway, they were greeted by something pleasant. Something that reminded them of a home that one had lost long ago and the other never had. Through the doorway was a great banquette of food and drink from every imaginable place in the world.

There were great pots and broths of soups, noodle dishes and boiled meats. Sided by these were containers of roasted vegetables and fresh fruit. Long tables with serving trays filled with sweets and cakes of every kind. To the left were barbeques with meats sizzling and ready to be pulled off the hot plate and eaten. To the right were tables of freshly cooked casseroles and baked breads. It was a smorgasbord of an all you could eat buffet.

As the smells of all these wonderful foods wafted in towards the men, both felt the familiar growl of their stomachs. It had been a long time since either had actually eaten. Easily a month to be precise. Naruto had just lived off his natural chakra while Sasuke was in a real of war, being regenerated every five minutes.

Sasuke did not need to be coerced into this room and was pulling on his bindings so he could eat sooner. Naruto was having an internal battle of his own as he eyed the food from afar. Many years of living on the street had taught him to never pass up on a free meal but also to be cautious of a handout. Some things never change and one of them was to never trust a silver platter. From where he stood, he could see over twenty.

"Sasuke… I don't like this."

Sasuke turned and balked at his blue eyed companion.

"What is not to like? It is FREE FOOD! I have not eaten in a month and there is a home cooked meal sitting right there that looks like my own mother cooked it!"

Naruto could smell the food and his mouth was watering just from being there but something was still off about this place. He could not relax.

"I don't trust this food. If you are wise then you won't eat anything."

"THIS from the guy who would eat everything at the table? Including the napkins?"

Naruto's eyebrow ticked as he started to move his hand on his pole blade.

"Care to rephrase that?"

The dark avenger was quick to change his tune.

"Nothing, Nothing! I said nothing!"

His dark eyes wandered to the food on the table again. It was a roast duck with a lemon sauce and green beans. It was still steaming from being pulled out of an over and its heavenly scent was hypnotizing.

"Don't even think about it Sasuke. The more I look around this room, the more I don't like it."

"You're being paranoid! It is FOOD!" Sasuke groaned as he reached for a sandwich.

"Look around you Sasuke! How many people did you see walk in here before us!?"

Sasuke just shrugged his shoulders as he started to stack a plate. It was difficult with his hands tied at the wrist but he would make do.

"I don't know… maybe thirty or so?"

"And look around you? With all this great food around, where are they now?"

This made Sasuke pause. It was true that that was a strange little quirk with the room but right now his stomach was in charge. His hand was still moving the sandwich from his plate to his mouth when Naruto quickly grabbed his wrists and stopped him. Sasuke's eyes went wide as he saw the sandwich with great fangs, snapping and snarling in his hands.

He immediately tossed the sandwich to the ground and stomped on it, trying to kill the mutant food. When the movement stopped under his feet, he lifted his foot to check that it was dead.

The sandwich had reverted back to normal but the alarming thing was that a lot of the other dishes on the table were starting to change. Low hisses and snarls could be heard from all around them and the plates of food began to grow mouths and eyes.

The watermelon to their right was the first to act at is somehow leapt from the table and flew right at them. Naruto was fast with his blade and cleaved the savage melon in two. As the pieces fell to the ground and reverted back to their original state, a dark thought crossed both men's minds.

"I think I know what happened to those thirty people, Naruto." Sasuke whispered as they were being encircled by the growing number of dishes.

"Yeah Sasuke. What gave it away? The flying watermelon or the sandwich that was intent on eating you?"

"I think it was the watermelon." Both men were now being backed into a corner as more and more plates of food seemed to get involved. Their slimy fangs would snap in sequence and the plates grew more restless. They were only a few feet away now and Sasuke was getting nervous. Enemy ninja was no problem but mutant food was not something he had personally trained against and he still had his hands tied.

"Cut me loose." He pleaded to his captor.

"You gotta be kidding me." Naruto questioned.

"CUT ME LOOSE DAMNIT! I can't fight with my hands tied!"

Naruto made a slight growl and quickly cut Sasuke free.

"Just remember what will happen if you run." He threatened while handing him a spare Kunai knife.

Sasuke dropped into a fighting position while Naruto just made a few loose swings with his Naginata. With a nod to each other, the battle commenced.

* * *

Shikamaru was going through the books that still remained in the pile on Naruto's desk. His wary eye still had not left Sakura as she flicked through the brown journal before turning back a few pages and re-reading it again. With every page she turned, her mood seemed to get darker. He would have to keep an eye on her, but then again, he had to keep an eye on everyone. Shino was quiet, even for him.

Tsunade was sitting by Naruto's side and watching over him like a hawk. It was hard to tell but for a trained eye like his, he could tell that her age was starting to show. The war had not been kind to any of them but for an aging woman it was brutal.

Neji was hard to read like Shino but he seemed to be restless. He was not used to continually reading scroll after scroll and grew restless. He was now checking out some of the artefacts that were on a high shelf on the wall. Carefully he reached up and pulled down a pair of blue lens glasses. As he studied the round frames intently, he read the small tag the was on one of the arms.

"Glasses of a Soothsayer" he read out aloud before placing them on his face. His shrill cry was quickly followed by the glasses being thrown across the room and Neji jumping back a good few feet. All eyes turned to him as he pointed to an empty space on the floor, his finger trembling and his face white.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" his voice was harsh but loud.

Shino moved over to the glasses and picked them up to examine them himself. As soon as he placed the glasses on his face however, he promptly had a similar reaction. If something could make the most stoic of the Konoha forces pail and shiver then Shikamaru had to find out what.

He moved over to the glasses cautiously and picked them up. They seemed harmless enough. Brass frames around the ovals of blue glass, worn down by time and scratched. He was tempted to place them on his face to see for himself but he was not going to go in blindly. Turning to the two men who were now starting to calm down, he stated his query.

"What did you see?"

Both Shino and Neji looked at each other before answering in unison.

"The damned.."

Shikamaru looked at these glasses with suspicion now. There were many things in this room that he thought should not be on the mortal plan and concern was building again in what Naruto was doing with such cursed items. Hesitantly, he put them to his eyes.

He saw nothing.

He turned to face the two men to quell there fears but neglected to remove the glasses. As his eyes moved towards Naruto, He almost screamed as well when he saw over twenty shadowy figures clawing at the floor around Naruto's body. All of them were battle scarred and howling in silent agony. Their movements were slow and rippled like water. Dark smoke about their feet swirled in spirals before dissipating into the air. It was the burnt lines of salt that was keeping them at bay. Naruto's prone form was what they were after. As he removed the glasses from his face, the shadows disappeared into the unseen realm.

"This is getting more and more troublesome." he said quietly to himself.

* * *

Naruto's blade was making short work of the types of produce that he was fighting off while Sasuke was still holding his own. Both men fought side by side and in perfect harmony with each other. It was as if the years apart had been only a day and time had not led these men down alternate paths.

A large metal pot descended from the air and its shadow overcame Sasuke only to be swatted away by a steady kick from the blonde Jinchuuriki. Ramen noodles swarmed like snakes it the air and launched towards Naruto, only to be cut down by Sasuke's Kunai skills.

Both men were holding their own but still found themselves back to back as they held off wave after wave of the strange assault.

Then as quickly as it started, it stopped. An eerie calm descended over the glutinous realm and both huffed at the struggle they had held off. Together, they slowly lowered their weapon and looked around at the carnage. A small smirk appeared on Sasuke's face and a smile on Naruto's. Then both started to chuckle at this strange predicament they had landed in.

Both men instantly stopped laughing when the ground started to shake in waves and a series of loud booms were heard. Naruto looked to Sasuke with curiosity in his eyes.

"Footsteps?"

Sasuke just shrugged as the time between ground shaking wakes and loud thuds became faster and more violent. The tables from afar were thrown into the air and started to hurtle towards the two brothers in arms.

"DODGE!"

Both leapt out of the way of the flying furniture just before it crashed into the ground where they once were standing. As they looked up to the direction it came from, a surging behemoth of a beast charged at them. Its legs were made of assorted vegetables, the torso was that of an old oven. Its right arm was a collection of breads and the left was woven strands of noodle. The head had one giant eye and a mouth that had teeth, dripping with saliva. It roared with an ear-piercing shrill and left both men with ringing in their ears.

Suddenly it charged at them and slammed its fists to the ground, causing the ground to rock violently. Sasuke made use of his speed to swing in between its legs and slash behind its knees to bring it down while Naruto jumped to the air and threw down hid Kunai with devils wire to pin the beast down. For a moment the beast was still and Both Naruto and Sasuke thought the job was done until it stirred and began to break free.

The wire started to snap in audible notes like piano strings and the beast was once again on the rampage. Sasuke cried out to Naruto.

"What the hell is this thing? How do we kill it?!"

"NO IDEA! JUST KEEP HITTING IT!"

Naruto reached for an exploding tag, only to remember he used them all in the last realm. In a panic, he looked up to find the noodle arm had split into five and was shooting towards him. Swinging his Naginata at the noodles was a big mistake as they glugged up the blade and stopped him dead in his tracks. Quickly, the thin strands wove around his arms and legs before pulling him into the air and towards the beast. The oven in the beast's chest opened menacingly and sought to devour Naruto but Naruto blocked the opening with his pole blade.

Sasuke was again between the legs of the food monster and was slashing furiously at the legs but was just not doing enough damage. Naruto bit down onto the noodles around his left arm and tore them away so he could form a Rasenshuriken, which he promptly thrust into the heart of the beast. The blast from the technique was intense and hurtled all three combatants in opposite directions.

Sasuke and Naruto pulled themselves to their feet and watch in concern as the monster started to pull itself together again, this time it was getting every bit of food that was on the ground and everything that was still on the tables. Slicing the thing to pieces obviously didn't work.

"Any ideas Naruto?"

Naruto closed his eyes and breathed out in a slow mediative way. He spoke slow and calmly as the beast began to walk towards them.

"Yeah… I have one left…"

The beast roared again as it began to slowly stagger towards them and gradually built up speed. Naruto calmly place his hand on Sasuke's shoulder and Sasuke instantly knew what was about to happen. Chakra began to surge into Sasuke and he could feel the immense power flow through him. The beast was getting closer and closer but both men stood their ground.

And then Naruto gave the order.

"**FRY HIM!**"

Sasuke's hands were fast and he drew in his breath before releasing the largest flame he had ever seen. The fire was so intense that it consumed the beast in a matter of moment and it fell to the ground, a screaming inferno.

Naruto removed his hand from Sasuke's shoulder and Sasuke fell to one knee. He had never felt such power before and the shock of it had left him breathless.

Naruto offered Sasuke a hand up and the two men started to move to the next doorway.

"I am never eating again…. So long as I live."

"Funny for a dead man to speak of living…"

"Shut up, Naruto…"

* * *

Ok guys. That was the new chapter. short and sweet. I know it is not as good as my previous work but I would still like to know what you think. Catch you next on TO HELL AND BACK!


	13. Let It Burn

Hey Guys. Here is the next part of the story.

* * *

LET IT BURN!

The blasts of hot air ruffled their hair and flailed their clothes violently as they neared the next entrance to what both men were sure would be another strange realm. Though neither could see what was ahead, the red glowing light before them and these blasts of air told them one thing. It was getting hot where they were going.

Their pace was steady but the winds were growing stronger and more violent down the narrow channel as they pressed on. An exceptionally strong blast suddenly hit and though both men were firm in their footing, they did skid back a metre on the ground.

"What is this? We have not even made it past the gateway and we are getting blown back?!"

"We just have to keep going, Sasuke! Once we pass the gate it should ease up!"

"Who died and made you the boss?!" Sasuke yelled as they trudged slower and slower to the red gate.

The air was now starting to burn him as he tried to protect his face with his arms.

"Technically, You did! I would not be here if it were not for you!" Naruto shouted.

They were just feet away from the gateway now but the wind was howling. Sasuke started to lose his grip on the ground and slide back again but managed to grab onto Naruto's cloak. The added weight started to drag Naruto back as well but thinking quickly, Naruto rammed his Naginata into the ground to stop them sliding back.

Slowly but surely, they made their way into the gate.

Once they past the gateway, both men suddenly fell forward as the wind dropped dead. Outside of the narrow passage, the light breeze was no longer focused into a vortex barrier.

Pushing himself up from the ground, Sasuke was the first to see what this new world held for them and it was a horrifying sight. This new realm was what some would call "True Hell". Fire swarmed like untamed beasts across the dry ground as the earth cracked open and spewed molten metals. The heat was by far more intense than the inner depths of a volcano. Violent gusts of super-heated air would swish forth and incinerate any that dared to cross its invisible path. The red glow and hot winds from the passageway here seemed more welcoming than this barren plain of fiery tornados.

As Sasuke squinted to see how far this hell went, small black dots on the ground caught his eye. From their vantage point by the gate, the black dots moved slowly on the earth bellow before being swept up in the winds and scattered across the plains.

These black dots were people.

People scurrying desperately to cross the inhospitable world.

People just like them.

Sasuke turned to his Blonde rival to see that he too was watching the chaos before them with a stern look on his face. Only it was not fear in his eyes but determination. Such a look reminded Sasuke of some of the old days when they worked together. Before Sasuke defected.

Naruto pulled back the sleeve on his cloak and it was the first time that Sasuke saw the moving hourglass tattoo on the inside of his forearm with what looked like black granules moving through its stem.

Quickly covering the tattoo up again, Naruto moved to the edge of the cliff they were standing on.

"We are running out of time. We need to get moving."

With that, Naruto jumped off the cliff edge and started to surf down the face before stopping at the bottom. Not being one to be out done on anything, Sasuke was in hot pursuit.

"How the hell are we going to cross this thing? It must be at least ten miles wide!? " Sasuke groaned.

Naruto just made a slight smile as an idea came to his head.

"It is really simple. We just run. We run really, really, really fast."

Sasuke was dumbfounded by this. It could not be that simple. The swirling walls of fire and invisible jet streams of caustic air could not be outmatched by simple speed, could they?

Turning back to burning world, he started to watch for a pattern. A brief window where it would be safe to run. An opening. This would have been much easier with his sharingan but since having lost his chakra, that was just a faint memory.

"I don't see an opening Naruto. If we run into that, then we will be fried!"

"Then we just need to run faster" Naruto countered as he lowered himself into a racing start position.

Sasuke shook his head and dropped into a similar starting position beside him.

"You do know you are crazy, right?" He said as he looked to his right.

The determined look on the sage's face was all he needed to see.

"Every damn day." Naruto responded smugly.

In truth, Naruto was excited. He had known that things like this would lie before them but to actually face them and to charge in without a plan was all part of the excitement. Having Sasuke along for the ride filled him with a sense of nostalgia for the days when they would do this every day. Sasuke would always beat him in everything, even if it was just a simple race, and Naruto would complain bitterly, but it was all part of the game. The thrill of life and death. These were the moments when Naruto could have fun.

This was a bit more serious however. From his tattoo he saw that he only had twenty hours left and this was only the third trial of seven. They were making good time but they needed to keep making good time if his plans had any chance of succeeding.

Taking in a deep breath, he could not help but smile. Just because this was going to be his last mission did not mean that he could not have some fun along the way.

"Ready Sasuke?!"

"Ready…"

"ONE!"

His heart started to race and his eyes were brought to a steady focus. He moved his fingertips on the ground in front of him from his crouched position, feeling the earth.

"TWO!"

His breathing began to speed up and an electric tingle began to course through him. The muscles in his legs began to tense and release as the excitement of such a race began to hit home. Even though this was a race, He would watch Sasuke's back and make sure they both made it to the other side safely.

"**THREE!**"

NxS

* * *

Back in the apartment, Tsunade was watching over Naruto's vital signs. Recently, his heart rate had started to increase. His breathing became more stable for a second but them dropped out again. Running a quick scan of him again, she found the muscles in his legs were tightening up. His heart had sped up to a more lifelike rate than that of a comatose person. His body temperature was starting to rise as well.

She placed her hand on the skin of his cheek, only to pull it away sharply. His skin was on fire.

Waving her hand in the air, she then quickly blew on it to cool her fingers down. By the time she looked back, Naruto's skin was turning red and starting to blister. His wet clothes were starting to steam as the water on him body evaporated into the air.

Stepping back, she stumbled over her stool by the stone altar and fell backwards. Fear started to fill her as she could only assume the worst. The only times that Naruto's skin would spontaneously bubble and blister was when he was losing control over the Kyuubi's chakra and it started to burn him alive. She had never been close enough to him when it would happen to know if his body heating up was a symptom as well, but then again, she never wanted to be.

Her startled fall caught the attention of the others in the room. Shikamaru, Shino and Neji were already starting to back up but only Sakura and her clones held their ground. She was the only one who had seen him lose control with her own eyes and had some idea of what to do.

She swiftly moved to his side and tried to calm him, placing her hands on his shoulders and gently shaking him.

"Naruto?... Naruto it is ok! You have to calm down! I know you can hear me!"

But the heat from Naruto's body only increased and more of his skin started to burn. The smell of cooking meat started to waft through the room and the implications of such a smell made Shino Actually lose his dinner out the window.

His clothes began to smoke as they started burning off his body. Sakura's hands were starting to be scolded from the heat but she would not let go.

"NARUTO! YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS! YOU ARE KILLING YOURSELF! PLEASE! …I AM BEGGING YOU! JUST WAKE UP!"

As if to answer her plea in some way, Naruto's body began to cool down. Slowly the heat dissipated from his body and his skin started to reform over his flesh. The reddening on his face and limbs receded back to his normal tanned complexion.

As quickly as it started, Naruto's condition returned to its previous comatose state. His body relaxed and his breathing slowed to a near standstill.

Sakura was still holding onto him as Tsunade moved in to examine him. She had seen Naruto heal himself before but never that quickly. As he looked now, you would never have known, that only moments before, he was close to self-combusting.

"What happened? Was that the Kyuubi's chakra?"

Sakura removed her hands from Naruto and gasped in pain as she examined her palms. They were red and starting to form vesicles where she had touched him. Her hands trembled and she bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out.

Tsunade was quick to start treating the burns but there was little doubt in either of the medic's minds that this would take some time to heal. With the application of the green healing chakra, Sakura was able to find her voice.

"No, that was not the Kyuubi's chakra. There was no chakra in that and if you have ever seen him lose control then you would never mistake it. Kurama's chakra is more of an acid burn in its concentration. This was just heat. I have never seen Naruto do that before."

Sakura winced as Tsunade began to bind her hands in bandages.

"So if that was not the Kyuubi's chakra, then what the hell was it?" Shikamaru put forward.

The trembling stopped in Sakura's hands and she returned to Naruto's side. Leaning down, she picked up Tsunade's stool and took it as her seat for the remainder of the night.

"I don't know. It was like he was hit with an invisible Katon technique. He just started to burn up."

The growing concern in Sakura's voice was becoming clearer by the hour. She was at a loss for what was happening to her friend but held onto hope that they would find out what was happening and soon. The hourglass at the head of the altar was still counting down to a deadline and none of those present had a good feeling about what would happen when the sands stopped.

NxS

* * *

Naruto was hunched over on the ground and screaming loudly as his hands shook. The pain was excruciating and he had no way to hide it this time. Looking down at his charred arms and legs, he could see that he was done.

That last blast of burning air had caught him off guard and knocked him down. He could not even see it coming. All he felt was the sudden hit of heat and then the burning of his skin, muscles and bones. With every breath he took of the super-heated air, it was like he was drowning in molten metal. All he could do was hold his eyes closed and hope it would be over soon.

When he opened his eyes, He could see Sasuke still running ahead and growing smaller and smaller. He never should have expected Sasuke to watch his back. The Sasuke from the bridge in wave country was long dead. He would not be so foolish as to take a hit for him again.

Gritting his teeth and straining his burnt hands, Naruto Reached out for his Naginata on the ground beside him. The burning air around him was still intense but the pain was starting to numb. Using the pole-blade as a crutch, he pulled himself to his feet.

He had to keep going. This pain would pass soon he hoped and when it was all over he could finally rest. Looking down at his hands, the skin was already starting to grow back and the burning was beginning to go away. His spiritual form was already regenerating and he counted himself lucky that he was not incinerated to ash and had to start again from the first realm.

"I have to keep going. I can't stop here."

Steadily, he placed one foot in front of the other and began to move forward again.

NxS

* * *

Sakura was once again reading pages from the leather-bound journal. From her stool beside Naruto, she could keep a closer eye on him and hopefully find the answers she was looking for in his life story. She had already ruled out a good third of the books and scrolls that were in the room with the random lists she had found stuck in between the pages of the book but she could not help but get a little bit side tracked with the story of their past together. With every good memory she had of an event, Naruto had a very different and much darker take on it.

For years she had thought that Sasuke was the damaged boy who needed love and friendship to get him through the hell his brother had bestowed upon him. Reading this book was showing that Naruto was the one who was really in need of a friend. When they were younger, Sasuke was always brooding and sulking over the loss of his clan. That was really kind of normal for someone who had lost everything. If you had lost your family right in front of you then you would be more than entitled to a time to mourn. His problem was his obsession over it. He could not let himself feel happy or he was betraying his family.

Naruto actually understood this. He wrote about Sasuke and his inability to let go and move forward. Naruto knew Sasuke better than she did. It was Naruto's writings on his own life that made her feel worse though. She turned another page and found where he wrote about his time at the academy and how he graduated.

She had never known how he actually graduated. She never bothered to ask. Now she knew about Mizuki and how he used Naruto to get the scroll of sealing. But most importantly, she had stumbled onto the truth of Naruto's healing abilities and how legendary they were...or weren't.

Looking up from the pages, she looked over the toned and strong body that lay on the stone table. If what was in the book was true, then she feared what he really looked like…underneath the genjutsu.

NxS

* * *

Naruto groaned as he began to speed up. His body still felt like it was burning but he had his movement back at least. Jumping into the air, he opened what was left of his smouldering cloak and sailed back down to the ground before repeating the process. He was starting to catch up to Sasuke again but he still had a long way to go.

A sudden crevice opened up to his right and he drove his poleblade into the ground to swing him to the left. A tower of boiling golden metal erupted from the brown cracked earth and shot into the air. I single droplet of the fiery liquid landed on the back of his hand and he lost his grip on his weapon.

Skidding off to the side and landing on his feet, Naruto charged back under the burning rain. His weapon was the only thing he could truly count on down here and he was not going to leave it behind. Dodging the hellish raindrops, he made his way back to his Naginata and reefed it out of the ground. With a glance up, he saw a wave of golden liquid about to descend upon him.

His body was still in a bad way from the blast of superheated air from before but he had to give it a try. Focusing his chakra, Naruto flashed into light and teleported himself to a safer location.

When he re-materialized, he collapsed to a single knee. The Hiraishin was always a draining technique but Naruto had noticed that the longer he was in Hell, the less chakra he was able to form. His reserves were slowly dwindling away and they were not being replenished.

Now he understood why no one had chakra in the realm or war. They had used it all up and were down to only using taijutsu. Though they were physical here, their bodies were made up of only spiritual energies. Chakra was to moulding of physical and spiritual energy and without a physical body, chakra could not be created. He could only do it because he was still connected to his physical body through the tattoo on his arm, but the further he went into hell, the harder it was becoming for him to use his chakra.

He groaned in frustration at his circumstances. Maybe that little bit of information about chakra was why the Shinigami had let him enter hell for twenty-four hours. That bitch thought he would run out of chakra and be stranded in one of the realms until the timer ran out and was dragged back to the land of the living.

That way, He would not get Sasuke out but the Shinigami could keep her precious dagger. Naruto smiled through gritted teeth at the thought of being played so easily. But he would show that bitch. He would show her that he would not be kept down and would make it through the trials of hell in under twenty-four hours. His very existence depended on it.

Getting back up on his feet, he started to run again.

NxS

* * *

Sakura placed the book down on the stool and made her way towards Naruto's prone form. She was frightened of what this could mean but she had to find out if it was true. How could he have kept such a secret for so long and not have anyone find out about it? It could not be true.

Looking back at the book on the stool however, and with all the things she had read so far, not only could it be true, it was actually more than plausible.

"_I first discovered my immortality on the night of my graduation. The night that Mizuki tricked me into getting the scroll of sealing for him. It was that night that I was told about the fox inside of me and how I was the offspring of the immortal demon. It was that first night that I entered my inner world and was confronted by the fox. I knew I was not the demon's offspring for there was a clear and distinct boundary where our existences stopped but that still left me with many questions unanswered._

_If the demon was not killed by the fourth Hokage, then why was it in me?_

_If I was not the offspring of the demon, then how was it that I had survived so many things?_

_That was the first night that I used the demon's power to defeat Mizuki but it was also the night that I learnt of my curse for being a Jinchuuriki."_

Jinchuuriki. The word brought pain to Sakura as she remembered what that word meant. A Jinchuuriki was a human sacrifice and many believed the sacrifice to be that of the person who performed the sealing. In many cases, to seal a chakra beast inside a child came at the cost of the casters life. Not many gave a second thought as to the sacrifice of the child.

"_Although many have been granted the power to control the greatest demon of the five nations, the seal that bound us was not just of the physical nature. It bound our souls together. My life was to be extended to that of many millennia and the great fox would not allow me to die._

_Immortality however, was not the same as invulnerability._

_I was still just a child and the scorn of all those that knew of my existence. Those who knew of the abomination I was under my skin, sought to rid the world of me. Kurama would not let them do this however. If I died, then he would perish as well. He has patched up my body more times than I dare to count and kept my heart beating and my blood flowing even when I would beg him to just let me die._

_With all the power that he possessed, he could fuse my bones till they were harder than stone and pull my severed head onto my torso without any great difficulty. The problem with this power was that he was not a doctor. All that was holding my broken form together was power. He could not numb the pain. He could mend the severed nerves but He could not fix that which would require a surgeon. For all of my injuries where he could pull the pieces of my body back together and hold them in place, I would still have to heal naturally."_

Sakura's bandaged hands moved to Naruto's cheek and she stroked it gently. She did not want to imagine that such a thing was true. That this man before her could be so broken without anyone knowing about it.

"_He could however, make it so that no one would ever know of my suffering, as a way to protect me from further harm. It is a basic to attack an enemy where he is weakest and to see an animal bleed in the natural world is a death sentence. Predators will pick off the injured and the old for an easy meal. The same is true of the ninja. We are trained to attack from blind spots. Hit where they are wounded and play our strengths to their weaknesses. If your opponent has a broken arm then you are to target that arm. To keep me safe… Kurama hid my injuries and pain with his own genjutsu."_

Sakura lifted up the base of Naruto's shirt to reveal his stomach. With just a little bit of chakra on his skin, the seal that held back the Nine Tailed Demon was made visible. Carefully, she began to trace the outline of the spiral seal. With each pass over the black lines, they began to glow green.

"_He disguised my body in one of the most complex illusions that he knew and ran it constantly. Day and Night. Never would any person, friend or foe, learn about my afflictions. The cost of such an illusion was that it would interfere with my own Genjutsu abilities. I would not even be able to cast a simple bunshin while under his illusion. I would also be at the wrath of any other illusions that were cast upon me. Kurama justified this by telling me that Genjutsu was an attack on the mind and I should not fear its shadows. That they could do my no true harm and were just "bad dreams". It is only in this journal that I have written how to dispel the Kyuubi's illusion. And it is only if I were to die that this journal should be found. I will take my secret to my grave."_

As Sakura worked on his seal by tracing it with her chakra charged fingertips, Naruto's body began to shimmer as the illusion was beginning to wear off. Tsunade moved behind Sakura and watched her as her hand traced the lines on his stomach in curiosity.

She had not read the journal and did not know what was going on.

"What are you doing Sakura?"

Sakura said nothing. She simply kept tracing the lines of the seal with her healing chakra. The more her fingers danced on his exposed stomach, the more her own stomach began to turn. This was not just any secret he had kept. This was who he truly was and what he truly looked like. This was what he had done for them. And for Her.

"_Saturday, September 5__th__. four broken ribs, Cracked wrist, shattered knee cap, Concussion and collapsed lung. -Training session with Sakura after she thought I insulted Sasuke."_

"_Monday, September 7__th__. Torn tendons in the right leg, fractured cheekbone, five missing teeth, dislocated collarbone, cracked humerus and internal bleeding.- Sakura thought I was trying to peak on her when I was bringing her a mission report."_

"_Wednesday, September 9__th__. Fractured hand from rasenshuriken going wrong."_

"_Thursday, September 10__th__. Cranial fracture and dislocated jaw. –Sakura found out about the broken hand."_

"_Monday, September 14__th__. Slash to left side, 43cm long. Slash to wrists 2 cm deep. Lightning chakra burns to right side arm and leg. Chidori wound to left lung. -32__nd__ unofficial Sasuke retrieval attempt. Status: failure."_

The pages went on and on. For every page that was in the hospital folders on Naruto, He had ten or more pages of injuries that had "healed" by themselves and he had not reported.

These injuries were caused by friends and for the sake of friends. Sakura had never known how much those "love taps" she had given him on their days off had really damaged him. How many times he had really gone after Sasuke without telling anyone.

As she finished with the seal, the shimmering image of the blonde sage faded away like broken glass and before her eyes was the true reality of his suffering.

"Oh God…. Naruto…"

His arms and legs were a chess board with how many slashes he had defended against. His exposed stomach and chest had more scar lines on them than a pre-ruled textbook. His bones were set straight but as she moved her hand over his arm, she found it to be constant nodules of excessive calcification. Each bump in his bones was another fracture, healed over without treatment.

The burns were worse though. For every scar he had where he was cut up, he was burnt underneath. There was not a single square inch where faded and recent burn marks could not be found. Most were electrical. He had to have been hit more than a hundred times with a Chidori to be this way.

As she ran a scan of his internal organs, they were similar to those found in village elders. Years of abuse had led to internal scarring that even the oldest man alive would find impossible to deal with. How he could still be alive would have been impossible if it were not for the large amounts of Kurama's chakra that was holding him together.

Right now though, it was ONLY Kurama's chakra and life force that was keeping him together. Without the genjutsu in place, Sakura could finally see the clear evidence that Naruto, The Naruto she knew, was dead. His soul was gone from his body.

Sakura could not take anymore and broke down on top of him. She screamed and shook at what she had discovered. It could not be true! HE COULD NOT BE DEAD!

Lady Tsunade was fast by her side and was trying to comfort the distraught woman but did not know what was wrong. The illusion had only broken over Sakura's eyes and only she could see the extent of Naruto's suffering.

"Sakura Dear! What is wrong?!" She tried to pull the girl from to man on the altar but she would not give way.

Looking for another way to find what could have changed so quickly, Tsunade's eye caught the leather bound journal on the stool. Picking it up, she flicked through the last few pages that Sakura had read and was aghast at the things written there. It couldn't be true but from Sakura's reaction, it had to be.

She moved back to Sakura's side and spoke quietly in her ear.

"Sakura… I know this is hard to take and I know that what you have seen must be horrible but I need to see for myself."

Sakura moved a bit to the side to reveal the seal on Naruto's stomach so that she could dispel the illusion as well but would not let go of Naruto entirely.

Tsunade took a steadying breathe as her fingers began to trace the seal. She still had her fear of blood and the only reason why she became a medic again was because of the man before her. Still… she had to know.

With the final movement of her fingers, the illusion disappeared and now both medics were no longer blind to the physical trauma of their most visited patient. Tsunade could not believe that she could be fooled so easily into believing that Naruto was fine for so long. There had been talks with Jiraiya about the implications to his body whenever Naruto used the Kyuubi's chakra, Tsunade had just hoped that it would be many years before those side effects would kick in. Such thinking now seemed like foolish ignorance.

And what of Naruto? Why did he never say anything to any of them? Was he fooled by the illusion that he was fine as well? As she looked back at the journal on the stool, it was clear he was not so naive. Then why? Why would he go through this?

As if to kick her in the face, Naruto's voice echoed through her head.

"_I hate hospitals. I hate having people wait on me. I don't like the attention. It feels so awkward when no one gives a crap while your fine but they can't have you die on them in their hospital._"

Naruto also hated to be a burden on others.

"He's dead."

Sakura's eyes were only just open and her bandaged hands still held onto Naruto. Her voice was just a whisper.

"He is dead Lady Tsunade… "

Tsunade could only look over the boys near lifeless body and shake her head. It was true, really. But the whole thing with the altar, the hourglass and the books on the occult, these did not say "suicide" but more that of a mission. A mission that only he knew about. It was a long shot but there was still hope.

Pulling Sakura into a hug, she again spoke quietly into her ear.

"I don't think he is dead. I think he just isn't here. All of this could be some way of leaving his body and going somewhere and doing something where he could not normally go. I don't know where or what that is but I don't believe that Naruto would go through all of this without a reason."

Sakura looked up at her mentor and allowed just a sliver of hope to come to her eyes.

"Do you really think so?"

"I am certain of it, Sakura. And when he comes back, we will make sure he has a body that is fit for him. I am going to start healing him now that I can see what is truly going on and I want you to go back to reading that journal. He must have written about this in there somewhere."

Sakura wiped her eyes and gave a small nod.

"But what about the others? Shouldn't we tell them?"

"Yes Sakura, but not about his physical condition. Despite their stoic appearance, I know that each of them would blame themselves in some way for what happened. They are already having enough trouble and knowing that Naruto is in a worse condition than he appears would only serve as a distraction to them. We need them to figure out What Naruto is doing and why. Not worrying about how he has survived so long."

With another nod, Sakura moved back to the stool and began reading the journal again. Only Tsunade noticed that as she read the book, one of her hands found Naruto's and her thumb was gently stroking the back of his hand.

Looking back at the boy on the stone slab, Tsunade hoped that Naruto would come back. She would not put her money on it but she could still pray.

First she was going to talk to Shikamaru about the recent development and then she was going to start healing Naruto. With grim determination, The Fifth Hokage knew it was still just the beginning of a very long night.

NxS

* * *

Sasuke was about two thirds the way across the Inferno of a realm when the ground gave way under his feet. A crack in the earth was snaking its way alongside him, faster than he could run. Without warning, the whole earth shifted violently to the left and Sasuke was thrown to the ground.

A new chasm had opened up and more fires erupted around him. The heat was getting painful again as the wind picked up. Sasuke began to huddle down on the ground, attempting to shelter himself from the heat but the more he stayed still, the hotter the ground became.

Back and forth, the earth began to sway like a liquid. The brown dirt was starting to melt with the heat that was coming from deep below. Geysers of molten metals erupted around the Uchiha who was now paralysed by fear.

A strong hand grabbed onto his shoulder and he looked up to see a still burning Sage before him. His skin was red and raw, his hair was now much shorter from being burnt from his head. What was most terrifying was not the burning on the man's flesh but the burning anger in his eye.

With a hard swing, the sage propelled them both out of the new lake of magma that was forming around them. But Sasuke's luck was over way before they left that infernal pit. No sooner had they touched the ground, did Naruto slam his fist into Sasuke's jaw and drop him to the ground, hard.

As he spit up the blood that was coming to his lips, he felt the steely impact of Naruto's powerful leg in his side. Winded, he dropped to the ground again. His reprieve still did not end as Naruto pulled him to his feet and glared into his eyes.

"Now you listen, **ASSHOLE!** I did not come all this way and get you this far just so you could ditch me back there!"

Naruto gave him another jolting shake to be sure he had the Uchiha's undivided attention.

"LOOK AROUND YOU! YOU ARE IN HELL! AND EVERYONE HERE IS ONLY OUT FOR THEMSELVES! **THAT IS WHY NO ONE EVER ESCAPES! **We worked together and we have made it through two and a half realms in less than four hours which is much better than your earlier attempt with the first realm and being there for over a month! "

A terror erupted behind them. A twisting tower of flame that reached into the endless sky above them. The ground began to shake again as it races across the barren plains, directly towards them at a frightening speed. Sasuke could see it but Naruto had his back turned to the fire tornado.

"If you want to get out of here then we have to work together as a team. That is what is getting us through this mess and that is what will get us home."

Just before the twister was upon then, Naruto and Sasuke disappeared into another flash of golden light and teleported to the other side of the realm. Safe from all the flames and by the exit.

Naruto was breathing heavily at the toll the technique placed upon him but both men were finally out of this God forsaken place.

"Just remember one thing Sasuke... Down here... I am all you have got… and you are all I have got."

Naruto then turned and walked through the gateway, leaving a somewhat stunned Uchiha to think about his place and options in the next few realms.

Biting the bullet, Sasuke began to follow a bit more complacently. Like it or not, Naruto was his only hope to get out of there.

* * *

Well... That was quite a ride. If you love it then I love you. if you Hate it then I respect your opinion and we can just go separate ways. Reveiw if you want to. I love reading your thoughts and ideas. I even used one of them in this chapter. See you next time!

ParadoxPhilosohper!


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